SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico county official who runs a group called Cowboys for Trump and who had vowed to return to Washington, D.C. after the riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk has been arrested by the FBI.
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested Sunday on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. He did not immediately respond to phone or text messages seeking comment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. says law enforcement received a tip on Jan. 9 that Griffin was present at the Jan. 6 riot and had posted videos to his Facebook page indicating that he intended to return to D.C. to “plant our flag” on Pelosi’s desk.
A subsequent investigation also found Griffin stated in a Facebook video that he “climbed up on the top of the Capitol building and . . . had a first row seat.” In that same video, he stated:
“You want to say that that was a mob? You want to say that was violence? No sir. No Ma’am. No we could have a 2nd Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. You know, and if we do, then it’s gonna be a sad day, because there’s gonna be blood running out of that building. But at the end of the day, you mark my word, we will plant our flag on the desk of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Donald J. Trump if it boils down to it.”
On Jan. 14, officials say Griffin spoke at an Otero County, New Mexico, council meeting about his experience at the Capitol and his plans to return to D.C. to protest President-Elect Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. It’s alleged that Griffin stated that he intended to bring his firearms with him when he traveled to the swearing in.