Jan 6, 2022 - News
More than 60 Texans linked to Jan. 6 charged by the feds
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
At least 63 federal cases have been brought against Texans involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol, and thus far, six have been sentenced.
Details: At least seven of the cases are out of Central Texas: two from Travis County and one each from Hays, Williamson, Comal, Caldwell, Bastrop and Blanco counties, per an analysis from George Washington University.
- Texas is in line with Pennsylvania for the second-highest number of federal cases. Florida topped the list with 76 cases against residents, according to national analysis from George Washington University.
Federal records give a window into how Central Texans were involved in the attack:
- Joseph Cable Barnes, an Austin real estate agent, was indicted in March and faced multiple charges related to the attack on the Capitol. Months later, Barnes died in a motorcycle crash after he ran a red light and collided with another vehicle
- Samuel Christopher Montoya, an Infowars staffer from San Marcos, was arrested last April. He videotaped his time in the Capitol, and a family member later reported Montoya to the FBI.
- Central Texas businessman Christopher Ray Grider, who admitted to being in the Capitol during a segment on a local Waco TV station, pleaded not guilty to seven counts and remains out on bond with the requirement that he wear a GPS leg monitor. Grider also provided his own video footage from inside the Capitol to the news station.
Others were arrested in Austin:
- Zvonimir Joseph Jurlina, a New York resident, was apprehended in Austin and charged with destruction of property, aiding and abetting and act of physical violence on grounds. He live-streamed from the Capitol and posted to his YouTube channel.
- Felipe Antonio Martinez, a California resident, was arrested in Austin in June. The indictment alleged that he and five other California men communicated with each other for months to coordinate the effort to disrupt the joint session of Congress.
The federal database does not yet indicate jail time for any of the men.