WASHINGTON – In a few hours on January 6, Richard Michetti sent his ex-girlfriend text messages and videos documenting how he stormed the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents. He also texted that she was an ‘idiot’ if she did not believe the election was ‘stolen’.
She handed him over to the police the next day.
The texts were displayed this week in newly unsealed charges against Michetti. He was arrested Tuesday and then released into custody at a home in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, just south of Philadelphia, while his case continues. He is charged with obstructing the official proceedings of Congress – an offense – as well as various offenses due to the unlawful entry of a restricted building or site and violent trespassing and disorderly conduct on the Capitol site.
The FBI has provided thousands of tips in the weeks since a crowd of hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump descended on the Capitol when lawmakers met to confirm the outcome of the presidential election. The indictment shows that the suspected rioters’ friends, family members, colleagues, former classmates and, yes, exes played an important role in helping investigators identify and track down suspects.
Michetti’s indictment describes in detail how his ex gave the FBI everything to settle the case against him. In addition to the texts and videos, which created a timeline of his alleged involvement in the uprising from start to finish, the ex also provided his date of birth, address, phone number and other information about his phone.
The ex-girlfriend, who is not mentioned in the court requests but is identified as a woman, went to the police on January 7. The indictment does not contain a specific law enforcement agency she contacted. She gave a full interview to the FBI on Jan. 11 and told agents that Michetti went to Washington because he “believed the election of President Trump was stolen.”
The texts she submitted to the FBI begin on January 5, with Michetti sending her a message that he will board a train and will call as soon as he arrives in Washington. At around 6:06 on January 6 – shortly after waves of rioters broke through police barricades and entered the building, Michetti sent a message: ‘… it’s going down here, we’re storming the building they’re spraying – and withhold tear gas and paintballs. “Three minutes later he sends a text confirming that he is going to the Capitol to ‘stop the vote, this is fraud this is our country’.
About half an hour later, Michetti’s ex received two videos of him, apparently showing scenes of rioters inside the Capitol.
Around 4:26 p.m., Michetti texted her: ‘If you can not see that the election was
stolen, you’re an idiot. He complains about the police using tear gas and pepper spray and says that the Capitol is ‘public property’.
The indictment does not say whether the ex responded to any of his messages, but at 6:04 p.m., Michetti sent texts suggesting she was talking to something he said.
‘I understand your point, but what I’m saying is [W1’s name] the election is over and everyone knows it. All we wanted was an investigation, that’s it, ‘he wrote, followed by further messages repeating lies that prompted former President Donald Trump and his supporters after the election to extend the vote during the pandemic. led to great fraud.
The FBI agents showed Michetti’s ex a photo of a crowd standing outside the Capitol, and she identified him as a man in a dark baseball cap with a Chicago White Sox logo and a backpack. with bright blue straps. A blue mask is pulled down under his chin, revealing his face, and he looks like he’s looking at a phone. The indictment papers show how the FBI then identified him in the Capitol camera footage by fitting the clothes he was wearing outside. The FBI also received a receipt from a hotel near the Capitol, where Michetti checked in on January 5 and checked out the next day.
Michetti’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment. He will make his next appearance in court on March 1. It is unlikely that he will send more texts to his ex in the meantime. One of his release conditions is that he cannot liaise with ‘potential witnesses’ while his case is pending. pending.