Man seen hanging off Senate balcony and sitting in VP's chair during Capitol riot is in custody
Source: CNN
(CNN)The man who was photographed hanging off the Senate balcony and then sitting in the Vice President's chair during the riots at the US Capitol has been identified and is in custody, according to officials.
In a sworn affidavit, an FBI agent says a relative of Josiah Colt confirmed that Colt is the person seen in a photo sitting in a chair where Vice President Mike Pence had been minutes earlier during the session to count presidential electoral votes. The affidavit included three two photos of the man identified as Colt in the chamber.
Colt was photographed hanging off a balcony and landing on the floor of the Senate chambers, the FBI affidavit said. Colt claimed in a Facebook video that he was the first person to sit in the House Speaker's chair, according to the affidavit, but the FBI said he "appears to be mistaken as he was also photographed in the seat reserved for the vice president, and not Speaker Pelosi."
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"In the moment I thought I was doing the right thing," Colt said in a text to CNN affiliate KBOI last week. "I realize now that my actions were in appropriate and I beg for forgiveness from America and my home state of Idaho." Colt and his family have not returned repeated requests for comment from CNN.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/us/man-vice-president-chair-capitol-riot-trnd/index.html
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You drove 2,500 miles from Idaho to D.C. because you can't carry a gun on a plane, got a couple of
hotel rooms, joined a mob, took part in a riot that broke into the Capitol during which people were
killed and the building was damaged, as people in your mob were looking for the Vice President and the
Speaker of the House to kill them, hung over the balcony, dropped onto the senate floor, and then sat
in the Vice President's chair and that was just a spur of the moment thing?
*******
"We're like two blocks away from Liberty Square, and like there's a ton of police here, naturally," Colt says into his cell phone camera at one point. "It's definitely going down tomorrow."
In another video posted later that evening, Colt - wearing a helmet and Trump neckerchief - acknowledges that the planned conflict may turn violent.
"It's time to take back our freedom. It's going to be crazy tomorrow," he said. "Praying that everybody are able to prove a point without violence, but you don't know, you don't know how it's going to go down."
https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/josiah-colt-us-capitol-riot-idaho-videos/277-a32b6e99-b4b5-4310-bc18-6339b76f51c0
In a message to CBS2 News, he said: "I love America, I love the people, I didn't hurt anyone and I didn't cause any damage in the Chamber. I got caught up in the moment and when I saw the door to to the Chamber open, I walked in, hopped down, and sat on the chair. I said my peace then I helped a gentleman get to safety that was injured then left."
"While in the Chamber I told the other protesters that this is a sacred place and not to do any damage. Some of them wanted to trash the place and steal stuff but I told them not to and to leave everything in its place. We're still on sacred ground.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/josiah-colt-capitol-rioter-pictured-hanging-from-senate-balcony-begs-forgiveness/ar-BB1czXtE
