At least 24 Floridians have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that left five dead and lawmakers fleeing for their lives — putting Florida among the states with the most arrests.
Of those arrested so far, at least 18 are from the Middle District of Florida, which covers Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa and Fort Myers.
A review of federal court records shows those accused come from across the region, ranging widely in age, profession and levels of radicalism. They include a Sanford firefighter, a Treasure Coast charter boat captain and leaders of far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
More than 300 people from across the country have been accused of participating in the insurrection after a “Stop the Steal” rally where former President Donald Trump promoted lies about election fraud and urged his followers to “fight like hell” against his presidential loss. The pro-Trump mob marched to the Capitol and stormed the building in a failed attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
The only states whose arrests outnumbered Florida are Texas and New York, which saw 30 and 25 residents arrested respectively, according to a U.S. Justice Department database and media reports.
Experts say the involvement of extremists originating from Florida is troubling, but far more concerning is the fact that the majority of those arrested didn’t have ties with far-right groups. An analysis by the Anti-Defamation League found only 25% of those charged has ties to right-wing extremists, while the majority were part of a “decentralized but enthusiastic faction made up of self-described ‘patriots.'”
“In 2020 and the beginning of 2021, we saw the danger of the intentional spread of false information and misinformation,” said Amy Iandiorio, an investigative researcher with ADL’s Center on Extremism. “Different events in our political and cultural landscape can be changed to fit a narrative that breeds hate and fear, which can then be harnessed by extremists and by individuals who are just so driven by this conspiracy that they’re willing to act.”
The wave of Capitol riot-related arrests in Florida are likely attributed to the size of the state’s population and its political climate, said Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.
“An awful lot of money gets spent in Florida on campaigns every couple years,” Jensen said. “And what we’ve seen in the last couple of decades is really polarizing rhetoric in campaigns and an us-vs-them campaign style.”
“In the last election, I would say that rhetoric was more than just polarizing,” he added. “I think it was radicalizing.”
Almost all of the 18 arrests in the Middle District happened outside the Greater Orlando region after suspects were identified by anonymous tipsters through reviews of digital footprints such as social media posts.
The latest arrest happened Wednesday after Largo resident Robert Scott Palmer, who was initially identified as part of a HuffPost investigation, was charged with attacking police with a fire extinguisher and wooden plank.
Paul Hodgkins, a Tampa resident, was arrested after a review of selfies and videos posted to Parler, a right-wing social media site.
In nearby Parrish, Adam Johnson was arrested after being spotted on camera stealing a U.S. House lectern, an act for which he was charged along with other offenses.
Andrew Williams, a Sanford firefighter, is another who was identified by the FBI using photos and videos of the attack. He pleaded not guilty following his arrest late January.
Those facing the most serious charges in the federal investigation include Joseph Biggs, an Ormond Beach resident and well-known organizer with the Proud Boys, self-described “Western chauvinists” who have been associated with white nationalism and violent political protests. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled them a hate group, which they have denied.
While Biggs told federal agents he entered the Capitol building to use the bathroom, investigators said he coordinated a plan to instigate the insurrection with about 100 other Proud Boys, dressing up “incognito” to pass as anti-fascist activists who are often seen clashing with right-wing groups.
“We are going to smell like you, move like you, and look like you. The only thing we’ll do that’s us is think like us!” Biggs posted on the social media site Parler, an affidavit said. “Jan 6th is gonna be epic.”
Couple Connie and Kelly Meggs of Dunnellon were among nine arrested following the Jan. 6 riot who had ties to the Oath Keepers, an anti-government group of members with a law enforcement and military background who believe “baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy the liberties of Americans,” according to the SPLC.
They were named co-conspirators along with Englewood man Graydon Young and his sister Laura Steel, of Thomasville, N.C., of organizing a plot to attack the Capitol, according to an affidavit accusing other alleged members.
Kenneth Harrelson, a Titusville man arrested March 11, was also tied to a conspiracy to enter the Capitol as an alleged member of the Oath Keepers but wasn’t named in the affidavit with the other Florida members.
Others, like Michael Curzio of Summerfield in Marion County, didn’t have links to hate groups or right-wing extremist organizations.
Curzio, according to court records, admitted to his role in the attack, saying he was following Trump’s orders. Arrested couple Dana Joe Winn and Rachael Pert, of Middleburg, also don’t appear to have ties to extremists, with Winn saying in a Facebook video that their participation was to “take a stand” as “American patriots.”
Dillon Homol, a Cocoa Beach resident detained Tuesday, is another who doesn’t have known extremist links. One of the youngest to have been arrested for breaching the Capitol building, the 22-year-old was turned in to the FBI by former classmates who saw social media video of him entering the building, declaring, “They can’t stop us all,” according to court documents released Thursday.
Leading up to the attack on the Capitol, Florida was among one of the few states that saw an increase in active hate groups and anti-government militias in 2020, according to the SPLC. That’s a sign that messages of hate spread by those groups are resonating, experts previously told the Orlando Sentinel.
But federal and state law enforcement agencies told the Orlando Sentinel they don’t track or monitor hate groups or other far-right extremists.
“Our focus is not on speech or membership in particular groups, but on individuals who commit violence and other criminal acts,” said Andrea Aprea, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Tampa office, in statement. “We do not police ideology.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it must have “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity before investigating hate groups.
“Any group or individual must meet this reasonable suspicion threshold,” FDLE spokeswoman Jessica Cary said in a statement. “We ensure that any activity or speech that is Constitutionally protected although hateful or offensive is not infringed upon.”
That messaging only became more divisive following the election, Jensen said, pointing to Trump’s unfounded but repeated assertions that the election was illegitimate and that Biden’s win was fraudulent. Jensen also pointed to the failure of Florida’s Republican leaders to speak out against Trump’s claims of a stolen election.
“For a radicalizing narrative to really spread, the messenger is really important,” Jensen said. “It’s how powerful is the messenger? How respected is the messenger? The president of the United States has an awful lot of influence over individuals. So if other influential individuals are not standing up and saying, ‘This is wrong, we see no evidence of this type of fraud,’ then that narrative is going to seep in.”
Like other states, Florida also saw an increase in physical pieces of white supremacist propaganda spread through the community in 2020, according to a report released by ADL last week.
“The surge of white supremacist propaganda basically shows an increased effort on their part to bring their messages into the public sphere,” Iandiorio said. “… The increase coinciding with a year where we saw a pandemic and a divisive election period just goes to show the lengths in which white supremacists will try to push their narrative further in times of national confusion or concern.”
mcordeiro@orlandosentinel.com; creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com; dstennett@orlandosentinel.com
