An agent of the United States Capitol Police has been arrested and charged this Friday with obstruction of justice in relation to the investigation into the assault on Congress on January 6. Washington grand jury prosecutors discovered that agent Michael A. Riley warned a member of the Donald Trump mob of sympathizers to delete images on social media that betrayed his involvement in the violent day and told him how the FBI he was working to identify the hundreds of people who broke the law. They did not know each other, but he wrote: “I am a Capitol Police officer who agrees with your political position.”
Riley, 50, has worked half his life as a Capitol cop. On January 6, he responded to a report of a homemade bomb near the federal building. The next day he sent a private message on Facebook to one of the assailants who had posted selfies and videos inside the Capitol and with whom Riley coincided in groups related to fishing on the social network, but they did not know each other personally. “I am a Capitol Police officer who agrees with your political position,” Riley wrote according to court documents, telling him to remove the images of him inside the building because it was the material that authorities were investigating. .
In mid-January, Riley wrote again to the unidentified attacker publicly: “Get off social media,” he warned. “They are arresting dozens of people a day. Everyone who was in the building and participated in violence or destruction of property … all are being federally charged with serious crimes, ”Riley would have written. Prosecutors said the two men exchanged dozens of messages until the attacker’s arrest on January 19. The agent deleted all messages sent on January 20, according to the indictment. The last time the police officer wrote to him was on July 21 to distance himself from the subject, telling him that he was angry with him after seeing a video in which he was seen smoking marijuana on Capitol Hill and “acting like an idiot.”
Riley appeared virtually Friday afternoon in federal court in Washington and was released on various conditions, including surrendering firearms and not traveling outside the United States without permission from a judge. He is scheduled to appear again on October 26. Riley has been placed on administrative leave, Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said. “Obstruction of justice is a very serious charge. The Department was notified of this investigation several weeks ago. Following his arrest, the agent was placed on administrative leave pending the completion of the case, ”Manger said in a statement.
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