In this handout image from the FBI, Gabriel Brown can be seen alongside his signature outside the Capitol
(Picture: FBI)An alleged participant in the Capitol riots has been arrested after he almost literally left a calling card - by signing his name outside the building.
According to the FBI, Gabriel Brown was arrested after people on social media help identify him using his own video in which wrote his name on a trailer outside the building during the riot, then shouted “freedom!”
In footage published on YouTube, he reportedly said: “I swore an oath to defend our liberty a long time ago, and that’s why I’m signing this.” Ironically, in doing so he may now lose his liberty due to the charges he faces.
He also reportedly encouraged people to smash and steal property and told someone in the background “my name is Gabriel Brown”.
“You know what, the media did not want to do its job so now they f***ing can’t. We’ll do it! We got the cameras. We got the freaking voice. We’re going to go out and do it,” Brown said at one point in the video, according to the affidavit.
Brown is a supporter of the far-right group Proud Boys, according to reports. Vice News claims he had a YouTube channel chronicling his involvement with various right wing rallies, but that he has now deleted videos linking him to the movements.
He was arrested in Bayville, New York, on Wednesday and charged with four counts, including destruction of property, disorderly and disruptive conduct, and violence on Capitol grounds.
Brown joins a growing list of rioters who have practically marched themselves to prison by failing to be discreet about their actions. Another participant was arrested after he bragged about his crime on the dating app Bumble. Another bragged about attending the riots at the dentist.
In different footage filmed outside the western entrance of the Capitol, Brown addressed a crowd through a bullhorn and called for a “violent revolution,” the FBI reported.
“You stole the Senate from us, you stole the House from us, and now you think you’re going to steal the presidency from us?” he said, according to the affidavit. “Let me tell you something — you want to take peaceful revolution away from us? Well you better prepare for f***ing violent revolution. I don’t want violence. I believe in peaceful resolve. But you’re making it goddamn impossible for us.”
On 6 Jan the US Capitol in Washington was stormed by supporters of Donald Trump wishing to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. More than 140 people were injured in the storming and five died.
At the time, Trump was accused of encouraging the rioters by posting tweets about electoral fraud and calling those at the Capitol “patriots”. He was later permanently banned from Twitter for “inciting violence”.
The fallout from the event continues.
