Self-described “hidden patriot” Eric Munchel was arrested by the FBI regarding his involvement in Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol Hill complex.
Munchel, 30, was arrested and charged with “one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” according to the Department of Justice. His identity was confirmed based on photographs from his Facebook page and a livestream he posted of him and his mother at the protests. The livestream has since been removed.
Munchel became known on the internet as “Zip Tie Guy” for a photo of him wearing a mask and a hat with a handful of zip-tie handcuffs and a holstered weapon when protesters breached the Capitol after several planned demonstrations culminated in a speech by President Trump.
BREAKING: He’s being named by others now, so I can confirm results of the investigation: Eric Munchel from Nashville TN is #ZipTieGuy
His social media has now been locked down, but many of his posts are disturbing and include glorified violence. pic.twitter.com/xachNOyPLf
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) January 9, 2021
In the deleted video, Munchel says that it was a Taser in the holster and that the police “took it away” from him, according to News Channel 5.
“They didn’t like it because of tonight,” he said. “They said I couldn’t open carry a Taser.”
Another photograph from Munchel’s Facebook showed him standing in front of a television displaying the president. Munchel is holding a rifle and a thin blue line flag.
A woman who claims to have gone to high school with Munchel posted pictures from her high school yearbook showing an Eric Munchel among her classmates and another picture of a teenager with a Confederate battle flag she claims is the Munchel arrested by the FBI.
I’ve been told that an #EricMunchel that went to my rural Georgia high school is this same Eric Munchel, now based in Nashville, known as #ZipTieGuy. Here is a not-at-all-shocking photo of him from the yearbook: pic.twitter.com/puz3FTRemg
— Laurren Welch (@laurrenwelch) January 9, 2021
Authorities have charged 13 individuals in federal court in connection with Wednesday violence as of Sunday, including a man who sent texts in which he considered shooting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head.
Munchel’s case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Counterterrorism Section of the DOJ’s National Security Division.
