- Couy Griffin, the founder of ‘Cowboys for Trump’, was arrested in Washington, DC on Sunday after promising to bring weapons to the city on the day of President Joe Biden’s election day.
- Griffin, an ally of President Trump with a history of provocative and racist remarks, is an elected Republican land commissioner in New Mexico.
- The FBI’s Washington Field Office told Insider that Griffin was detained by U.S. Capitol police because of an arrest warrant for his involvement in the Jan. 6 uprising.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The far-right leader of ‘Cowboys for Trump’ was arrested in Washington, DC, after he promised last week to bring weapons to the country’s capital on the day of the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
In a statement, the FBI’s Washington Field Office told Insider that Couy Griffin, an elected commissioner of the Republic of New Mexico, was detained by U.S. Capitol police Sunday afternoon, who informed the bureau. Griffin “was the subject of an arrest warrant for his role in the January 6 Capitol riots,” the FBI said.
A criminal charge, dated Jan. 15, accuses Griffin of entering restricted grounds without legal authority.
A police statement in support of the complaint cites the videos posted on Griffin’s Facebook page – since deleted – where he boasts he attended the January 6 uprising and vowed to return with a US flag on the desk of the house’s speaker Nancy Pelosi to plant.
‘We can hold a second amendment rally on the same steps we took that rally [on January 6]”Griffin said in another video.” You know, and if we do, it’s going to be a sad day, because there’s blood flowing from that building.
As Insider reported last week, Griffin confirmed and announced his intention to travel to Washington, DC again for Biden’s inauguration during a January 14 Otero County commissioner’s hearing that he would bring two guns in his car. One, he said, would be placed under the front passenger seat – a violation of DC law that prohibits keeping firearms within reach of an occupant vehicle.
“I accept my second amendment, I will keep my right to bear arms, my vehicle is an extension of my house with regard to the constitution, and I have the right to have the firearms in my car,” he said. . These remarks are quoted in the police statement used to request a warrant for his arrest.
Griffin has a history of provocative and racist remarks. Last year, he declared that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” in a video shared by President Donald Trump on Twitter; he also stated that supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement ‘should go back to Africa’.
Democrats are asking him to leave public office.
“I demand that Couy Griffin resign from the Otero County Commission immediately, otherwise my office will be removed.” said Sunday.
The local Republican Party in turn distances itself from Griffin.
“Mr. Griffin does not represent the Republican Party of New Mexico, nor does he speak for the party,” Mike Curtis, a spokesman for the party, told Insider. The State IDP does not endorse or condone the statements of [the] Cowboys for Trump founder, “he said, and” condemned violence and any threats of violence against any person or group. “
Griffin could not be immediately reached for comment.
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