A Capitol rioter who drove his Tesla Model 3 from Miami to Washington before participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection told FBI agents he was "in the bathroom pooping when the violence occurred."
Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of four months in jail for Felipe Marquez, who pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
In a sentencing memo filed Thursday, prosecutors said they are seeking jail time for several reasons, including that Marquez "interfered with Capitol police officers trying to protect the building by repeatedly asking them for selfies and fist bumps," and spent 10 minutes with 20 other rioters inside the office of Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, which suffered substantial damage.
Marquez also carried a Glock firearm with him from Florida to D.C., although he told authorities he left it in his car during the insurrection.
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Inside Merkley's office, Marquez used his cell phone to film the room, according to the sentencing memo.
"Marquez's own cell phone video captured other rioters smoking and yelling and banging on the table," the memo states. "Marquez then held his vape pen up to the camera, as if to capture the arrogance of the rioters (himself included) smoking in a senator's office during an Electoral College certification proceeding to formally elect the next President of the United States."
Marquez "evidently thought the whole experience was joyful and celebratory," according to prosecutors, and he later posted videos of himself inside the Capitol on Snapchat.
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During an interview with the FBI at the time of his arrest in January, Marquez said he traveled to the Captiol to protest "communism and prostitution." According to the sentencing memo, Marquez also stated, "I was in the bathroom pooping when the violence occurred," adding that he "didn't see any violence at all."
In a subsequent interview with CBS Miami, Marquez compared Capitol rioters to heroes from the African-American civil rights movement.
"This is like a Rosa Parks, like Martin Luther King moment for me," he said.
Marquez's attorneys are seeking a sentence of probation.
More from Twitter below:
When Marquez was interviewed about his role in J6 by the FBI, he told agents...
— Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) December 2, 2021
"I went there to protest communism and prostitution."
and
"I was in the bathroom pooping when the violence occurred." 👀 pic.twitter.com/a1Am8gtY8U
Felipe Marquez’s team, meanwhile, want probation.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 2, 2021
"The former president, the rally’s organizers and speakers, and other nefarious, organized groups contributed to the chaos of that day, and are arguably, though not charged, greatly more culpable for what happened on January 6."
Marquez’s federal public defenders say he "did take a few drags of nicotine from a vaporized pen, but he did not participate in the smoking of marijuana.” https://t.co/78t1xrhcyZ pic.twitter.com/Ml8uf2qFoB
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 2, 2021
