A former school therapist in Ohio, who was photographed during the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol last week on the desk of Vice President Mike Pence, has been charged with several crimes, officials said.
Christine Marie Priola, 49, resigned her job as an occupational therapist at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District the day after her statue was famously captured during the riot in which at least five people were killed.
“I intend to denounce the global evil of human trafficking and pedophilia, including in our government and children’s agencies,” Priola wrote in a January 7 resignation letter issued by the district.
She is charged with three federal offenses: violent trespassing and disorderly conduct, knowingly entering a restricted building and engaging in illegal activities on Capitol grounds, according to a criminal indictment written by Deputy U.S. Marshal David Kasulones.
Priola appeared before a federal judge on Thursday and was released on a $ 20,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland.
A tip to FBI agents in Cleveland apparently led investigators to Priola.
Priola was inside the Senate chambers and ‘held a sign in which he read in part’ The Children Cry Out for Justice ‘while’ holding the seat of Vice President of the United States’, according to the criminal charge.
Rebels, applauded by President Donald Trump’s continued lies that he won the November general election, stormed the Capitol on January 6 in hopes of forcibly stopping Congress from formalizing President – elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“The female also wore a red winter coat and a distinctive pair of trousers with the name ‘Trump’ and in other words on the leg, ‘Kasulones added.
There was no answer on Friday to two public phone numbers for Priola. Two federal public defenders, named as her attorneys, could not be reached immediately for comment Friday.
In Priola’s resignation letter to CMSD, she cited three reasons for running her $ 62,205-a-year job to draw up special education plans for students with disabilities.
Priola said she objected to the coronavirus vaccine, was opposed to unions supporting the killing of unborn children, and claimed she was embarking on a new career in government trafficking.
Unfounded allegations that government officials are part of a secret cabal of child sex traffickers have become the basis of far-right, conspiracy dogma.
Shamar Walters and Helen Kwong contributed.