Prosecutors accuse the man of firing shots outside the Capitol on January 6
A Trump supporter who prosecutors say fired a gun into the air on the Capitol grounds as a mob stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021, was charged Friday with felony firearms charges, trespassing on law enforcement and obstructing them during a civil unrest. .
The man, John Banuelos, fired at least two shots into the air as he stood above the crowd on a scaffolding on the west side of the Capitol, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Federal District Court in Washington. It does not appear that Mr. Banuelos entered the Capitol. But before the shots were fired, prosecutors say, he posed for a photo wearing a “Trump 2020” cowboy hat and showing off a gun tucked into his waistband.
One of the most persistent lies about the attack on the Capitol — often made by Republican politicians and right-wing media figures — is that none of the hundreds of rioters who stormed the building had weapons. On Thursday evening, former President Donald J. Trump repeated the false claim on social media while responding to comments about January 6 that President Biden made during his State of the Union address.
“The so-called ‘insurgents’ he’s talking about had no weapons,” Trump wrote. “All they had was a rigged election.”
But the Justice Department’s sweeping Jan. 6 investigation found that several people in the Capitol were carrying firearms that day. In total, more than 1,300 rioters have been charged in connection with the attack, and arrests continue almost daily.
Guy Wesley Reffitt, a Texas militiaman, carried a gun on his hip as he led an attack of rioters up a flight of stairs on the west side of the Capitol, according to testimony at his trial — the first of dozens that have taken place in Washington involving in the events of January 6. Mr. Reffitt was ultimately convicted of weapons charges and other crimes and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Among the other rioters carrying firearms on Jan. 6 is Christopher Alberts, a former member of the Virginia National Guard who charged police outside the Capitol with a loaded 9-millimeter handgun, prosecutors say. Mr. Alberts was convicted of multiple felony charges and sentenced to seven years in prison.
A rioter named Mark Mazza brought two weapons to the Capitol: a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a Taurus revolver loaded with shotgun shells and hollow-point bullets, prosecutors say. That was Mr. Mazza sentenced to five years in prison.
Prosecutors have not determined what type of gun Mr. Banuelos was carrying on Jan. 6, but they said in their complaint that he was not licensed to possess it. One of the charges he faces is carrying and discharging a firearm on Capitol grounds.
After firing the shots, prosecutors said, Mr. Banuelos put the gun back in his waistband, climbed down from the scaffolding and rejoined the crowd.