A former school therapist is charged with several criminal charges over the storms of the U.S. Capitol after she quit her job, citing several conspiracy theories as the reason for her decision.
Christine Marie Priola was photographed during the riots that broke out on January 6 in Washington, DC, on the desk of Vice President Mike Pence, killing at least five people, including a police officer.
The 49-year-old photographed a poster with the caption “THE CHILDREN HELP FROM JUSTICE” while sitting next to a fellow protester sitting on the Vice President in the Senate chamber after the mob stormed the heart of American democracy has.
A day later, Priola resigned her job as an occupational therapist at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
“I will change my mind to expose the global evil of human trafficking and pedophilia, including in our government and child agencies,” she wrote in a January 7 resignation letter released by the district to local TV station WKYC.
Allegations that members of the government are involved in child trafficking are completely unfounded, but are consistent with several of the far-right conspiracy theories used by QAnon believers.
The QAnon conspiracy theory claims, among other things, without some evidence, that President Donald Trump is a key figure in an extensive and secret war against a ‘deep state’ controlled by Democrats and influential Hollywood figures who are otherwise strongly involved. is sex trafficking in children.
In her resignation letter, Priola added that she is also against the coronavirus vaccine and that they pay unions that “support the killing of unborn children”.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland, the former school therapist appeared before a federal judge on Thursday and was charged with violent trespassing and disorderly conduct, knowingly entering a restricted building and illegal activities on the Capitol site.
The criminal charge states that Priola “occupies the seat of the Vice President of the United States” within the Senate. After her appearance before the judge, she was subsequently released on a $ 20,000 bond.
The storming of the Capitol was the culmination of months of rising rhetoric, during which Trump and some of his closest allies repeatedly challenged the outcome of the November 3 presidential election.
The president raised the specter of fraud even before Americans cast their ballots in November and continued it on election night when he prematurely won.
In the intervening three months, Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and several high-profile Republicans have repeated, without ever giving conclusive evidence, that the election was presented in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
On the day of the riots, Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol.
“We will never give up,” the president said as he addressed a large gathering of protesters near the White House for about 70 minutes.
“We will never concede. It does not happen. You do not concede if there is theft.”
Thousands of rioters, many of whom wore Trump accessories and carried Confederate flags, subsequently forced themselves into the heart of American democracy, vandalized offices and clashed with police.
Protesters temporarily halted the merger of votes for the Electoral College to ratify Biden’s victory.
Congress has finally resumed counting and ratified the outcome of the election, with the president-elect to be inaugurated on January 20th.
Wen McNamee / Getty