Latest Minnesotan charged in Capitol riot turned in by former classmate
Federal authorities have revealed the nature of the charges against the third Minnesotan implicated in the Jan. 6 Capitol Insurrection, a 26-year-old man from Lindstrom.
Jonah Elijah Westbury was arrested and charged Friday with various crimes relating to the riot, in which supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed congress to stop certification of the 2020 election.
Westbury is the second Minnesotan arrested in connection with the riot in as many days. On Thursday, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington D.C. charged Victoria White, 39, of Rochester, over the storming of the Capitol.
According to charging documents from the U.S. Department of Justice, Westbury entered the halls of congress with the onslaught, recording videos, narrating his movements and cheering on fellow rioters.
"We made it," he says in one video, per federal prosecutors. "This is our house. We got pepper sprayed, got abused…”
He's charged with four counts, all relating to illegally entering the Capitol and engaging in "disorderly and disruptive conduct" there, as well as "parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building."
Two tipsters reached out to the FBI to identify Westbury, the charges say. One had spotted him in an image that popped up on reddit; the other was a former high school classmate who had seen Westbury's insurrection videos on multiple social media platforms – including TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter.
Coincidentally, this is also what helped bring down Jordan Stotts — the very first Minnesotan charged in the insurrection. Charges say a former classmate of Stotts contacted the FBI about posts he made on Facebook that indicated involvement in the Capitol riot.
So far, over 400 people nationwide have been charged in connection with the incident, Insider notes.
