Protesters storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington D.C.
John Minchillo/AP
North Carolina resident Chris Carnell was arrested in connection to the January 6 riots.
Accessories helped authorities to identify him, including a pair of Pit Viper sunglasses.
Carnell also snapped photos with white nationalists Nick Fuentes and Baked Alaska the day prior.
A Capitol rioter from North Carolina was charged by federal authorities who identified him and a friend by the brightly colored — and sometimes painfully obvious — accessories they wore when storming the Capitol.
Christopher Carnell, who appeared in a Raleigh court on Thursday, was caught on CCTV cameras with a bright, red backpack with his last name stitched on the back. Other fashion statements that helped to identify him and his friend David Worth Bowman included a pair of Pit Viper sunglasses and a blue facemask.
Carnell faces five charges for his participation in the riots, including one count for obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years. Bowman is not currently facing charges, although it is unclear if any will be brought against him.
A spokesperson for the DOJ did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
According to criminal complaint prepared by the FBI filed Wednesday, authorities were first alerted to Carnell and Bowman after they arrested another rioter, Aiden Henry Bilyard, in November 2021. Bilyard, who admitted to pepper-spraying officers during the riots, is currently awaiting sentencing and faces up to five years in prison.
After seizing Bilyard’s phone, authorities found a group chat with three of Bilyard’s friends, including Carnell and Bowman.
According to messages sent in the group chat, on November 14, 2020 — following the presidential election — the friends took photos at the “Million MAGA March” with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Tim Gionet, a streamer better known as Baked Alaska, and shared them in the group chat.
Before January 6, 2021, the group texted about plans to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally, messages show. On the day of the rally, Bowman bragged to his friends via text that he gave Baked Alaska his Pit Viper sunglasses, signaling to authorities that he had worn the sunglasses at some point in the day.
Two days after the riot, the group also spoke in code about entering certain parts of the US Capitol Building. For example, they referred to the Capitol building as …read more
Source:: Business Insider