Prosecutors say an Alabama man who was photographed on the Senate floor during the riot at the U.S. Capitol and who recorded an anonymous YouTube video days later about the angry crowd has been arrested.
Joshua Mathew Black, of Leeds, was arrested Thursday and charged with entering a restricted building and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
Black said in the video that the “crowd went crazy” over Congress proceeding with certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump and believed Vice President Mike Pence “turned on us and that they had stolen the election.” Election officials, judges and Trump's former attorney general, William Barr, have rejected claims that the election results were fraudulent.
According to investigators, Black said on the recording: “We just wanted to get inside the building. I wanted to get inside the building so I could plead the blood of Jesus over it. That was my goal.”
It was not immediately clear if Black has a lawyer.
Black said his cheek was pierced by a projectile during the riot while trying to help a law enforcement officer who was being stomped on by members of the crowd.