Idaho man indicted on 4 counts in US Capitol attack case
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Rebecca Boone, Associated Press
BOISE (AP) — An Idaho man who posted online videos of himself bragging about taking part in the violent siege on the U.S. Capitol last month has been charged by a federal grand jury with four crimes related to the insurrection.
Boise resident Josiah Colt, 34, turned himself in to law enforcement in Boise on Jan. 12 after learning he was wanted on a U.S. Marshal’s warrant. On Wednesday, he was indicted on four counts, including obstructing official proceedings and aiding and abetting, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Colt was among those who stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 during a riot by loyalists of then-President Donald Trump as Congress prepared to certify the results of the election won by President Joe Biden. Five people died in the violence and more than 100 police officers were injured.
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After the insurgency, Colt posted a video to Facebook erroneously claiming he was the first person in the mob to sit in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s chair. Photos from the siege, however, appear to show him dangling from the Senate balcony and sitting in the seat normally used by the vice president in the Senate chamber.
RELATED: Boise man apologizes for storming Senate floor
Colt later apologized for his part in the insurrection in a statement to a Boise television station. Colt’s defense attorney, Shelli Peterson with the Federal Public Defender’s office for the District of Columbia, declined to comment on the case and said Colt also would not comment.
More than 175 people have been charged so far in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and authorities have said they expect many more people to be charged as they review thousands of videos and photos taken during the attack.
Like Colt, several other Idaho residents also boasted on social media about taking part in the insurrection — with some even posting videos and photos of themselves inside the building — but so far no others appear to have been charged, based on a search of unsealed federal court documents.