Five months after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, FBI investigations continue to prompt new arrests.
Two more Tennesseans have been arrested and charged this week, bringing the total number of state residents accused to 14. More than 450 people have been charged in federal court with crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., according to the Department of Justice’s database on capitol breach cases.
Social media has been key to many of the arrests connected to the Capitol riot — including the two most recent arrests in Tennessee.
An FBI investigation of Instagram posts from a since-deactivated account of Stewart Parks, of Tennessee, led to his arrest and several charges on Thursday. Parks had a photo of the interior of a Southwest Airlines plane with the caption, “ON THE WAY TO DC TO STOP THE STEAL,” as well as videos that appeared to have been filmed both inside and outside the Capitol building.
Courtesy U.S. Department of Justice Matthew Baggott, of Murfreesboro, appeared in an Instagram post from a since-deactivated account during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
One video at what appears to be an entrance to the Capitol building showed a group of people, including a man later identified as Matthew Baggott, throwing an object toward a group of Capitol police officers.
Baggott, of Murfreesboro, was arrested on May 30 and charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He is scheduled to appear in court virtually next week.
Parks was charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds/impending official business, violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft of government property. It is unclear when he will appear in court.
Courtesy U.S. Department of Justice Matthew Baggott, of Murfreesboro, was arrested on May 30 in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Records from Southwest Airlines revealed that both Parks and Baggott flew from Nashville International Airport to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Jan. 6 and returned on Jan. 7. Parks’ phone number and the email address listed as his contact information for the Southwest Airlines flight matched the information on the Instagram account, according to court documents.
Another Tennessee resident was arrested last week. Nicholas James Brockhoff was taken into custody on May 27 and faces seven charges, including use of a deadly or dangerous weapon and knowing engagement in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
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