WASHINGTON — A father-son pair who bragged they were among the first members of the mob to enter the U.S. Capitol building on January 6 was arrested Friday on multiple federal charges.
Daryl Johnson, of St. Angsar, Iowa, and his son, 29-year-old Daniel Johnson, of Austin, Minnesota, face four charges in connection with the Capitol riot, including disorderly and disruptive conduct and violent entry.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in federal court Friday, the Johnsons were identified by multiple tipsters, including a St. Angsar police officer who knew the senior Johnson because his father had previously been the town’s mayor.
A subsequent investigation by the FBI allegedly turned up videos of the Johnsons inside the U.S. Capitol building during the riot, as well as multiple posts on their social media accounts in which they claimed to have been in attendance.
In one post on Facebook, the FBI says, the younger Johnson wrote that, “I was one of the first ones inside the capitol building.”
In multiple posts on his page, obtained via a search warrant, Daryl Johnson reportedly claimed damage to the Capitol on January 6 was actually caused by “Antifa.”
“What the media is saying is completely false. It was Antifa causing the damage. I was there!” Daniel Johnson reportedly wrote. “Trump supporters were restraining the Antifa people.”
Nearly 500 people have now been federally charged in connection with the Capitol riot. To date, none of them have been accused by the FBI of being affiliated with Antifa – although one defendant, William Robert Norwood III of South Carolina, is alleged to have bragged that he disguised himself as a member of Antifa and then assaulted police.
The Johnsons aren’t the first father-son pair arrested in connection to the case. Two Delaware men – Kevin Seefried and his son Hunter Seefried – were indicted in April on charges of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A photograph of Kevin Seefried carrying a large Confederate battle flag through the U.S. Capitol building became one of the most recognizable images of the Capitol riot.
Another high-profile defendant, “zip tie guy” Eric Munchel, is charged with conspiracy along with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart, in connection with the riot.
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