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FBI Arrests Continue In Tennessee For January Storming Of The U.S. Capitol

Courtesy U.S. Attorney of the Middle District of Tennessee
This photo helped federal agents identify Ronnie B. Presley as one of the people they say stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
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Federal law enforcement officials have now arrested nine people in Tennessee in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Ronnie B. Presley, 42, of Bethpage, is the latest to be charged. The FBI arrested him in Old Hickory on Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee. His first court hearing is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Officials shared images identifying the man they believe to be Presley both outside the Capitol and inside the building, including one that shows him just feet from a police officer with his arm outstretched in the officer’s direction.

Last week, officials arrested 28-year-old Bryan Wayne Ivey. Prosecutors published multiple photos that they say show the Crossville man amid the crowd inside the Capitol. In one image, officials say he is standing beside another person shattering a window with what looks like a riot gear shield.

Eric Chase Torrens, 28, of Gallatin, was also arrested after officials identified a man they believed to be him in several photos.

Images and videos from social media and news accounts have played a critical role in the prosecution of the insurrection, as law enforcement officials search for hundreds of participants across the country.

A viral image of Nashville resident Eric Munchel climbing over seats in the Senate chamber with plastic wrist restraints in his hand helped agents make their first Tennessee arrest in the case. Munchel is awaiting trial in a D.C. jail, after a judge overturned a Tennessee magistrate’s decision to release him and his mom — a Georgia resident who was also arrested in Tennessee — on bail.

Others, including Matthew Bledsoe, Jack Jesse Griffith and Blake Austin Reed, were identified through Instagram and Facebook posts. Reed, for instance, shared photos of the crowd on his Facebook page with the message: “We The People took the Capitol!” and the hashtags #Trump, #MarchForTrump and #StopTheSteal.

NPR reports that officials have identified nearly 300 suspects on charges ranging from disorderly conduct and entering a restricted building to theft and conspiracy. Some have been released pretrial, while others, like Munchel, have been ordered detained without bail.

The FBI continues to seek tips to find others photographed in the crowd on Jan. 6.

Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member.

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