As investigation and prosecution for the January 6, 2021, riot persists, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed that one woman under scrutiny carried a range of weapons with her to the Capitol Building.
Kennedy Lindsey, a resident of California, was arrested in July in Los Angeles for her suspected involvement in the Washington, D.C. demonstration which began as a protest against the results of the 2020 presidential election and resulted in a swarm of people illegally entering the Capitol Building.
Though released from detainment after her arrest, the protestor is facing charges of possession of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct, as detailed in an FBI affidavit.
According to the federal agency, Lindsey was carrying a range of weapons when she engaged in the protest—pepper spray, a steel whip, a small sword, a flashlight taser, a knife, and a retractable baton were all found in her possession upon a search by a Secret Service official.
Lindsey was not the only one who carried weapons to the Capitol more than three and a half years ago. Among the throng of Trump supporters—who were protesting the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election—a number of potentially deadly weapons were uncovered.
These included knives, stunt guns, firearms, and makeshift weapons from flagpoles. One popular theory that circulated in the media regarding the origins of the riot include that it was a planned attack, not distinct from the involvement and support of Donald Trump himself. But this notion was dismissed early on by the FBI, which found little evidence to support a wide scale, organized effort to overturn the election results.
That left the apparent reality that what began as a legal exercise of First Amendment rights got terribly out of hand, resulting in hundreds of arrests. According to the affidavit, Linsdey joined another woman at the riot in 2021—flying from California to the nation’s capital—when they saw Trump advertise a “wild” demonstration.
The FBI noted that she wrote on social media prior to her attendance that “boss man,” or the former president, had “called for us” to join the protest. And Trump is not without his own problems in this. He was indicted last August on charges of conspiracy and pleaded not guilty to felony counts, arguing instead that he is a political target.
As of January 2024—three years after the riot took place—over 1,265 individuals have been slapped with charges by federal prosecutors. The defendants hail from almost all 50 states, including the nation’s capital. At the time, 460 of them had had prison sentences approved.
The January 6 disaster has received criticism from both sides of the political aisle. Democrats and liberals have dramatically described it as an “insurrection” and one of the greatest riots in recent history while Republicans have largely viewed it as a justified course of action. And then there are those who may have been suspicious of the 2020 presidential election but believe the riot was an extreme response.
Based on numbers from the beginning of this year, 718 people charged had entered guilty pleas, including 213 who conceded to charges against them related to attacking federal officers and conspiracy.
