Federal agents have arrested an Alabama man linked to the Oath Keepers, a far-right military group linked to Roger Stone, for allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol during the January riots, authorities said Tuesday. .
Joshua A. James, a 33-year-old resident of Arab, Alabama, is charged with obstructing an official process and entering a restricted building, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
In court documents, federal authorities said James owns a cleaning business, America Pro Hydro Services, and was in Washington, DC on Jan. 6, wearing an Oath Keepers baseball cap and a black long-sleeved top with a Oath-keepers plaster on the sleeve. “
The Oath Keepers are a group that encouraged former President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and use special forces and civilian forces to seize US electoral systems and suppress ‘domestic enemies’.
The New York Times and other newspapers reported last month that it was alleged that Oath Keepers provided security to Stone – a longtime adviser to Trump, convicted criminal and self-described ‘dirty fraudster’ – to Stone – on the morning of January 6 the White House. .
According to the criminal indictment, the photos of the protest before the riot showed how James and other Oath Keepers provided security to a speaker during the ‘Stop the Steal’ events planned for the day.
Trump and his supporters use the phrase “stop stealing” to promote false conspiracy theories that President Joe Biden did not win the November election.
“James and other oath-takers stormed the Capitol, forcing the Electoral College certification to come to a standstill,” the indictment said.
James wore ‘military clothing and equipment’ with the Oath Keepers logo in photos that showed him outside and inside the Capitol that day, the complaint reads.
James’s federal public defender could not be reached immediately for comment Wednesday and no one picked up the line at his company.
His bail hearing is in Birmingham on Thursday.
Helen Fuld contributed.