MUSKOGEE, Okla. (NewsNation Now) — Department of Justice officials say more than 100 suspected Capitol rioters have been arrested since the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol this month by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
Andrew Craig Ericson, of Muskogee, was arrested Friday. Authorities allege that the 23-year-old live-streamed video of himself entering the building with other rioters and taking beer out of a Capitol refrigerator, and that he posted photos online of himself posing in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
The FBI began investigating Ericson after a witness sent screengrabs or photos of Ericson’s Snapchat account that showed him inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 invasion to U.S. Attorney Trent Shores in Tulsa, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Investigators were able to determine the photographs of Ericson, including one in which he had his feet propped up on a conference room table, were taken inside the House speaker’s conference room, the affidavit states.
A witness told investigators that Ericson livestreamed his entrance into the Capitol and what appeared to be him taking a beer out of a refrigerator in an office. The witness did not report seeing Ericson committing any violent acts but did report hearing Ericson “screaming and yelling during the livestream,” the affidavit states.
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Court and jail records don’t indicate if Ericson has an attorney. He’s scheduled to make an initial appearance via videoconference on Monday before a federal judge in Muskogee, which is about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City.
Ericson is the first Oklahoman to be arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol.
More arrests after Capitol riot
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower ordered Bruceville-Eddy, Texas business owner Christopher Grider to remain in police custody after he surrendered to FBI agents in Austin on Thursday.
In an arrest affidavit, U.S. Special Agents charged Grider with willfully injuring or committing any depredation against property of the United States, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building without lawful authority, and willfully engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct to disturb the orderly conduct of a session of Congress.
In the affidavit, agents show several pictures of the Kissing Tree Vineyards owner with a red “Make America Great Again” hat and a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
In video footage, agents spotted Grider handing Ashli Babbit a hard helmet which she used to strike a glass door, shattering it.
An officer on the other side of the door subsequently fired a single gunshot that struck and killed Babbit.
The affidavit says Grider was seen holding his phone over the stairway appearing to capture a video or pictures of Babbit.
He apparently recalled the experience with other new media outlets.
“He sat there and talked about it. ‘I was there. I was there when she was shot.’ And that’s scary,” a Bruceville-Eddy resident shared.
During Friday’s hearing, Grider requested a court-appointed attorney who will now represent him.
“That’s our Capitol. This is America. We have that freedom to worship, freedom to protest, freedom to speak, but we don’t have the freedom to destroy,” said Idena Ary, who manages a restaurant nearby.
Judge Hightower ordered that Grider be held in police custody until his next court appearance, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate KWKT contributed to this report.
