An Alabama man who was detained on Monday for his role in the MAGA mob’s storming of the United States Capitol last week was out on $1...
An Alabama man who was detained on Monday for his role in the MAGA mob’s storming of the United States Capitol last week was out on $103,000 bond from a previous arrest for trafficking marijuana and LSD.
Court records show that a judge on Monday revoked the bond for 23-year-old William Watson of Auburn after prosecutors said he was identified in photographs and video of the riot.
‘Video surveillance from inside the Capitol Building recorded images of protesters inside the building, including images of the Defendant dressed in a yellow sweatshirt standing next to a man with a horned hat. The Defendant was identified by local authorities,’ prosecutors wrote in a motion.
The man in the horned hat is a reference to Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, also known as Jake Angeli.
William Watson, 23, of Auburn, Alabama, was taken into custody by Lee County Sheriff's deputies on Monday for his role in the MAGA mob riot at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on January 6
Watson is pictured above from a booking photo taken in July. At the time of his arrest on Monday, he was out on $103,000 bond after he was arrested for trafficking LSD and marijuana last summer
Watson is photographed in the yellow sweater standing next to Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, who is wearing a horned Viking hat and sporting tattoos. The group was among the first rioters to breach the US Capitol Building last week
Chansley shot to worldwide infamy when he stormed the Capitol last week sporting face-paint, a fur hat, and holding a Star-Spangled spear.
The Phoenix native turned himself into the FBI on Saturday after returning from D.C. but had refused to eat in custody because the food was not organic.
Judge Deborah Fine said his fasting was 'deeply concerning' and ordered the prison to find a way to accommodate Chansley's demands at his first court appearance via video link on Monday.
The FBI released the image of the bearded man in the yellow sweatshirt standing next to Chansley among photos of rioters they were hoping to identify.
Watson was arrested on Monday afternoon in Auburn, WRBL-TV reported.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said Watson is in the county jail after having his bond revoked.
He does not have any federal charges at this time, according to a search of court records.
Authorities noted that they were also able to identify Watson by the distinctive tattoos on his hand, and that Watson himself appeared to describe his participation in a social media post.
Watson's social media accounts, which have since been deactivated, show several pro-Trump content, including one which shows an image of Mel Gibson from the 2000 movie The Patriot. Gibson plays a character who joins a colonial militia to fight the British during the American Revolution
Watson also posted messages on social media denying that he was a member of Antifa, the far-left movement blamed for violence nationwide during the George Floyd protests
Several supporters of Trump have alleged that Antifa was behind the storming of the US Capitol. Watson has a tattoo on his hand which some have claimed proves that he is a member of Antifa
Watson made several posts on social media pushing back on claims that he is actually a member of the far-left Antifa movement, and that the tattoo on his hand proves it.
Antifa has been blamed for violence in cities nationwide in the wake of the May 25 police-involved death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in Minneapolis.
‘They wanna call me antifa because I have a video game tattoo on my hand and I was pleading for peaceful discourse,’ read a social media post that prosecutors attributed to Watson.
‘Let em say what they will. The fake news won’t win against thousands of patriots who recorded today.’
After the rioting, Trump and other top Republicans and media commentators claimed that the storming of the Capitol was carried out by Antifa in a ‘false flag’ operation meant to make the president’s supporters look bad.
No evidence has emerged so far indicating that Antifa played a role in the Capitol riot.
Watson also reportedly favored posts inspired by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. One video posted by Watson shows him complaining about being made to wear a face covering despite the fact that he says he should be granted a medical exemption
Watson’s social media accounts have been deactivated, though the Alabama Political Reporter points out that he has been known to post pro-Trump content.
Watson’s Instagram page was known to have contained several posts promoting the conspiracy theory that the president actually won the 2020 election and that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was fraudulent.
Watson also reportedly favored posts inspired by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
One video posted by Watson shows him complaining about being made to wear a face covering despite the fact that he says he should be granted a medical exemption.
So far, at least 82 people have been arrested and more than 55 have been charged over the insurrection. Hundreds more are being hunted by the authorities but are yet to be found, including 25 people who are being investigated on terrorism charges.
Another Alabama man arrested near the US Capitol after the rioting had a truckload of weapons, including components for 11 explosive devices, guns, smoke devices and machetes, along with a note containing information about a member of Congress, prosecutors wrote in court documents Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors wrote that the note and volume of weapons Lonnie Leroy Coffman, 70, had in his truck suggest he had ‘an intent to provide them to others’ and to attack members of Congress.
Coffman was charged with multiple firearms crimes.
‘This is a defendant with access to firearms and numerous other lethal weapons, dangerous incendiary mixtures creating napalm, who appears to have been motivated to conduct violence against our elected representatives,’ prosecutors wrote in a motion asking for Coffman to remained jailed until trial.
The note in the truck referred to a judge appointed by then-president Barack Obama as a ‘bad guy’ and gave the name of a member of Congress, noting the representative is of Muslim faith.
Lonnie Leroy Coffman, of Falkville, Alabama, was taken into custody last Thursday and has now been charged with weapons offences following last week's siege of Congress. He is pictured at right in a black jacket and dark colored beanie
Coffman has one handgun, one M4 Carbine assault rifle, ammunition, and 11 mason jars filled with an ignitable substance inside of his red-pick up truck parked near Congress
Police allegedly uncovered homemade bombs inside of Coffman's pick-up truck while it was parked near the Capitol during last Wednesday's siege
Coffman reportedly confessed that 11 mason jars in his possession contained a mixture of melted Styrofoam and gasoline - an explosive concoction that has the effect of napalm 'because, when detonated, the substance causes the flammable liquid to better stick to objects that it hits.'
‘The defendant brought these weapons to the immediate vicinity of the US Capitol Building, and traveled the area with two firearms on his person. The amount of weapons suggests an intent to provide them to others, as no one person could reasonably use so many at once,’ prosecutors wrote.
Coffman, who is from Falkville, was arrested the evening of January 6, after a riot in the US Capitol by a mob backing Trump.
The breach of the Capitol followed a rally earlier in the day in which the president spoke.
Prosecutors said Coffman left his truck in the morning that day of chaos and rioting and was arrested when he returned to the truck in the evening.
Law enforcement officers said they swept the area after pipe bombs were found near two buildings.
‘The defendant told law enforcement that he had been trying to get back to the pickup truck throughout the day, but that he was turned away in light of the explosives investigations,’ prosecutors wrote.
No comments