On Jan. 6, Northridge resident Kayla Reifschneider breached the Capitol, attacked members of the press and planned to give weapons to another rioter taking part, federal prosecutors allege.
Reifschneider, 27, was arrested Wednesday by the FBI, three years after the 2021 insurrection.
Kayla Reifschneider has been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
(Department of Justice)
Reifschneider faces a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding and misdemeanor charges that include entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.
Messages the day after the attack obtained by federal investigators allegedly show Reifschneider boasting about the violence that occurred at the Capitol, where federal prosecutors say she and others were trying to disrupt Congress and prevent the certification of the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election.
When one person asked Reifschneider in a message if police were hurt, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office, the woman replied:
“I definitely saw one getting help. Limping. We f— them up worse than antifa and blm. Lmao.”
The arrest comes more than three years after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of then-President Trump stormed the building after a rally in Washington decrying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Hundreds took part, with many making their way to the meeting chambers as members of Congress fled. Despite the time that has passed, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have continued to make arrests and file charges against people accused of taking part in the attack.
In court records, federal investigators have used and cited open source video from the Capitol — much of it recorded and streamed live by people who took part in the incident — to find and identify those who took part in the violent attack.
According to court filings, Reifschneider was part of a Telegram group named “PATRIOTS45 MAGA Gang” who supported Trump and believed the 2020 election was fraudulent.
In court filings, prosecutors cite open source video from Jan. 6, 2021, that allegedly shows Reifschneider in the Upper West Terrace yelling at police, then heading to the east side of the Capitol.
Images show Kayla Reifschneider during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors say.
(Department of Justice)
There, she allegedly targeted members of the media, yelling obscenities and spitting toward journalists.
“That’s spit, b—’!” she allegedly yells in the video. “Get f— COVID!”
Reifschneider is also seen throwing a helmet at someone, stepping on a camera, and then later lifting it and tossing it onto the ground.
“It’s been four years I’ve been wanting to do this!” she yells, according to video.
With another presidential election already on the horizon, the Jan. 6, 2021, attack continues to have legal repercussions.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be disqualified from state ballots.
The decision overturned a Colorado Supreme Court decision that disqualified the 45th president from appearing on the presidential ballot because of his role on Jan. 6, 2021. The state justices had ruled that someone could not run for office if they had engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court court reversed the ruling.
Reifschneider is one of 1,358 people who have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 violence, an investigation that federal officials say is ongoing.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, the attack caused nearly $3 million in damages. About 140 police offices were assaulted.
“The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane,” the agency said in a statement.
Of the arrests, more than 450 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, including 123 charged with using deadly or dangerous weapons to injury an officer.
More than 700 people so far have pleaded guilty to federal charges, including more than 210 who have pleaded guilty to felonies, according to the Department of Justice.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
