Jan. 6 Rioter Came To D.C. With Arsenal, Brought Pistol Onto Capitol Grounds

Newly unsealed court records underscore what Donald Trump has denied about the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021: that some participants were armed.

A court filing unsealed by federal prosecutors details how a Texas man and his friends brought an arsenal of guns with them to Washington, D.C., and how he snuck one onto the Capitol grounds during the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection attempt.

Roger Preacher was first charged in May of last year with unlawful possession of a firearm on the Capitol grounds on the day of the insurrection. He carried a .22 caliber Walther P22 pistol in his waistband on the Capitol’s lower west terrace, where some of the worst violence of the day erupted.

Preacher was arraigned in May and pleaded guilty, but his case was put under seal. U.S. attorneys told a judge there was “sensitive information” specific to Preacher’s plea agreement that couldn’t be released publicly at the time. With those concerns apparently resolved, prosecutors unsealed the case last week.

The newly released records offer disturbing details about Preacher’s foray to Washington, where he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that would end in the storming of Congress and an attempt to overturn the election.

According to prosecutors, Preacher drove from Texas to Virginia with two other men, Jason Parsons and Mario Mares. They started texting about their plans around Jan. 2, and on the journey discussed “firearms laws in the District of Columbia and ... knew it would be unlawful to bring firearms into the city,” the records allege.