Current:Home > NewsSocial media influencer is charged with joining the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol -GoldenEdge Insights
Social media influencer is charged with joining the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol
View
Date:2025-04-27 15:03:19
A conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
Isabella Maria DeLuca was arrested last Friday in Irvine, California, on misdemeanor charges, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area.
DeLuca, who has more than 333,000 followers on the platform formerly known as Twitter, is a former congressional intern who works as a media associate for The Gold Institute for International Strategy. DeLuca’s profile on the institute’s website says she served as an ambassador for the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.
DeLuca also interned for former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, both of whom are Republicans who have supported former President Donald Trump.
DeLuca, 24, of Setauket, New York, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Online court records don’t list an attorney representing her.
During the Jan. 6 riot, DeLuca replied to a Twitter post by writing, “Fight back or let politicians steal and election? Fight back!”
Videos captured her entering a suite of conference rooms inside the Capitol through a broken window on the Lower West Terrace. She passed a table out of the window and then climbed back outside through the same window. A table that another rioter threw at police resembled the one that DeLuca passed out the window, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
DeLuca posted about the riot for days after the Jan. 6 attack. When an Instagram user asked her why she supported breaking into the Capitol, she responded, “According to the constitution it’s our house.”
Several days later, she posted on social media that she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and had “mixed feelings.”
“People went to the Capitol building because that’s Our House and that’s where we go to take our grievances. People feel, as do I that an election was stolen from them and it was allowed,” she wrote.
When the FBI questioned her roughly two weeks after the Capitol attack, DeLuca denied entering the building on Jan. 6, the agent’s affidavit says.
More than 1,300 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.
veryGood! (5675)
Related
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Police officer crashes patrol car into St. Louis gay bar then arrests co-owner for assault
- 2 men, Good Samaritans killed after helping crashed car on North Carolina highway
- Judge weighs request to stop nation’s first execution by nitrogen, in Alabama
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Zac Efron Explains Why He Wore Sunglasses Indoors on Live TV
- Jury dismisses lawsuit claiming LSU officials retaliated against a former athletics administrator
- Ready, set, travel: The holiday rush to the airports and highways is underway
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Rachel McAdams Reveals Real Reason She Declined Mean Girls Reunion With Lindsay Lohan and Cast
Ranking
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter
- Your single largest payday may be a 2023 tax filing away. File early to get a refund sooner
- Homeless numbers in Los Angeles could surge again, even as thousands move to temporary shelter
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- The Denver Zoo didn't know who the father of a baby orangutan was. They called in Maury Povich to deliver the paternity test results
- Timothée Chalamet Addresses His Buzz-Worthy Date Night With Kylie Jenner at Beyoncé Concert
- FBI searches home after reported cross-burning as part of criminal civil rights investigation
Recommendation
Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
Turkey says its warplanes have hit suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq
India’s opposition lawmakers protest their suspension from Parliament by the government
Hospital that initially treated Irvo Otieno failed to meet care standards, investigation finds
Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
US senator’s son faces new charges in crash that killed North Dakota sheriff’s deputy
Two railroad crossings are temporarily closed in Texas. Will there be a significant impact on trade?
How do people in Colorado feel about Trump being booted from ballot? Few seem joyful.