Two East Texas men remained jailed for allegedly taking part in the unlawful siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, federal officials said.
Ryan Nichols, 30 of Longview and Alex Kirk Harkrider, 33, of Carthage were both arrested on Monday (Jan. 18). Nichols is in the Smith County Jail while Harkrider is being held in the Gregg County Jail.
The Department of Justice criminal complaint charges Nichols with conspira-cy and unlawful entry with a dangerous weapon, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds as well as civil disorder, assault on a federal of-ficer, using a deadly or dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting.
Harkrider’s complaint alleges conspiracy and unlawful entry with a danger-ous weapon, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds as well as aiding and abetting.
The affidavit further states a witness called the FBI on Thursday (Jan. 7) to report Nichols and Harkrider as two of the people who broke into the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
This witness revealed the two men’s Facebook accounts and said he or she had seen posts on Nichols’ social media which showed both of the suspects at the Capitol building on Jan. 6. A second witness then provided federal author-ities with the men’s names, ages and places of residence, according to the af-fidavit.
Federal agents identified Nichols and Harkrider in several photographs and videos posted to social media that depicted their alleged unlawful behavior at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6.
In two photos captioned, “We’re in,” Nichols and Harkrider can be seen on the Capitol Building grounds with a large crowd visible behind them.
“In the photos, Nichols appears with a beard and wearing a Marine Corps camouflage hat, American flag face cover around his neck, and a blue jacket, and Harkrider appears with a beard and wearing a blue and gray baseball hat with a Star on it and a tan jacket,” the affidavit stated.