Three active-duty Marines, including one who said he was desperate for a second civil war, were arrested and charged this week in connection with the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Micah Coomer, Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen were all identified as participants through footage of them marching through the Capitol along with hundreds of others on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Thursday.
The men, all with prominent military intelligence positions, were each charged with willfully entering a restricted building, two counts of disorderly conduct and parading or picketing at the US Capitol, where the FBI found them spending about 52 minutes with rioters. another try. to block the transfer of power from Donald Trump to current President Joe Biden.
The FBI said Coomer, who is stationed at San Diego’s Camp Pendleton, posted a photo to Instagram showing him at the Capitol during the riots. In the caption, he wrote: “Happy to be apart [sic] from history.”
The search warrant also revealed direct messages exchanged on the platform, “everything in this country is corrupt. Honestly, we have to start over. I’m waiting for the boogaloo,” which was later explained to mean “Civil War 2.”
The boogaloo movement is an organized and violent right-wing group that espouses anti-government beliefs and promotes white supremacy. Most focus on the claim that a second civil war is coming to the US
Footage shows Coomer at the Capitol with Hellonen and Abate. At one point, they gathered to put a red “Make America Great Again” hat on the statue and pose for a photo with it.
Hellonen, who is stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, is also seen in the footage carrying a yellow “Don’t Leave Me” flag – a symbol often used by anti-government movements.
FBI documents say Abate, who is stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland, confirmed in an interview that he entered the Capitol with two “friends.” He also “admitted that he heard how the event was portrayed negatively and decided not to tell anyone about entering the US Capitol,” according to the FBI.
A total of nine other service members have been arrested for their roles in the riots, Military.com reported. The outlet also noted that 118 of the 940, or about 12% of those charged with riot-related crimes, had some sort of military background.