3 Active-Duty Marines Working in Intelligence Face Riot Counts – By Bob Cronin (Newser) / Jan 20, 2023
One of the defendants posted photos from inside the Capitol on Instagram
Three active-duty Marines who work in intelligence have been charged in the attack on the Capitol, after investigators saw a photo one of them took inside the building on Jan. 6, 2021, and posted on Instagram. Micah Coomer, Joshua Abate, and Dodge Dale Hellonen were arrested Wednesday, Military.com reports. Court documents unsealed Thursday in the District of Columbia show that each face charges of knowingly entering a restricted building, two counts of disorderly conduct, and parading or picketing inside the US Capitol. A spokesman said the Marine Corps is cooperating with the investigation.
An FBI affidavit says video captured all three Marines inside the building, at one point putting a red MAGA hat on a statue and posing for photos, per the Hill. Coomer posted photos online, adding the caption “Glad to be apart of history.” Investigators obtained a search warrant for his social media accounts in August 2021, then matched images of Abate and Hellonen taken from the videos to their driver’s licenses and military ID cards.
Twelve active, reserve, or National Guard service members now have been arrested in the Jan. 6 investigations. Two other men under investigation were kicked out of basic training. George Washington University’s Project on Extremism’s data show that 940 people have been charged with crimes in the Capitol attack, 118 of whom have a military background. Most had lesser assignments than the newly arrested Marines, per Military.com. Coomer, for example, is a corporal working as a systems engineer for intelligence and reconnaissance at Camp Pendleton.
