What to Know
- A Long Island man is the latest tri-state area individual arrested for allegedly participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol siege earlier this month.
- Justin McAuliffe, 39, was arrested by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force Thursday morning at a residence in Bellmore.
- The documents state that McAuliffe is accused of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and knowingly impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions.
A Long Island man is the latest tri-state area individual arrested for allegedly participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol siege earlier this month.
Justin McAuliffe, 39, was arrested by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force Thursday morning at a residence in Bellmore.
According to statements found in a federal complaint, in the days following the riot, the FBI received tips through the FBI Tip Line and elsewhere from multiple individuals alleging that McAuliffe posted on his Facebook page that he entered the U.S. Capitol along with other rioters on Jan. 6.
Additionally, a witness emailed screenshots to the FBI of McAuliffe's Facebook page showing him at the U.S. Capitol the day of the siege. McAuliffe allegedly deleted his account following the riot.
One photograph, (seen above) apparently depicts McAuliffe outside the U.S. Capitol with a crowd.
Federal documents also state that the FBI was made aware of an article on the "Slate" website published the day after the siege. The article contained a photo of McAuliffe and another individual in a member of Congress' office along with a Trump flag. In the photo (seen below), McAuliffe, according to the FBI, is on the right side of the photo with a smartphone in his hand. His profile picture for his Telegram account is allegedly a cropped version of this photograph, according to the FBI.
A second witness provided the FBI with various screenshots, among them an alleged conversation between McAuliffe and another individual over Facebook. In one of the messages, according to federal documents, McAuliffe writes: “yeah I was in one of the offices. Some people were smoking a joint in the room, lol. Cops came in and weee like. Okay guys really? They didn’t even ask us to leave right away. They let us sit down and hang out and relax.”
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The documents state that McAuliffe is accused of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and knowingly impeding or disrupting the orderly conduct of government business or official functions.
He will make his initial appearance Thursday afternoon at the Central Islip Federal Courthouse via videoconference. Attorney information was not immediately known.
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, there are 166 people now facing charges in connection to the riot at the U.S. Capitol, more than two dozen of whom are from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut.
