Illinois man pleads guilty to misdemeanor in connection with Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

An Illinois man who purportedly described strolling via the U.S. Capitol as being “like going to the shopping center,” has pleaded responsible to a misdemeanor for his position within the Jan. 6, 2021 assault.

David Wiersma, 66, now faces as much as six months in jail after pleading responsible Tuesday in U.S. District Courtroom in Washington D.C., to a cost of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol constructing.

A 12-page charging doc in opposition to Wiersma included screenshots of Fb posts apparently made by Wiersma. One reads: “It was staged by ANTIFA, BLM and Capitol police. The police moved barricades and inspired individuals to go in. There are movies and I spoke with individuals. By the point we bought there it was like going to the shopping center. Individuals speaking and joking with police simply coming and going. If I had thought at anytime we have been at risk we might have left.”

The FBI was tipped off to Wiersma by somebody who labored with him at PCI Power Middle, a division of Westinghouse Electrical, in Lake Bluff, in line with the doc. On a separate Fb account additionally allegedly tied to Wiersma, the feds stated they discovered a video of a person sporting a red-and-blue baseball cap and an American-flag scarf they recognized as Wiersma.

They stated they have been then capable of finding Wiersma in safety footage from the Capitol.

Not less than 30 different Illinois residents have been charged in reference to the assault on the Capitol organized by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Capitol police have been attacked and injured as the group breached the constructing, forcing a halt to a joint session of Congress that was within the midst of affirming Joe Biden’s Electoral Faculty win within the 2020 presidential election. Then-Vice President Mike Pence, presiding on the joint session, was compelled to evacuate to a safe location throughout the Capitol.

Within the 19 months since then, greater than 860 individuals have been arrested in almost all 50 states in reference to the assault.

Sentencing is ready for Nov. 29.