A Pittsburgh man has been charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection along with four friends who are all associated with America First, a right-wing group promoting a “belief that they are defending against the demographic and cultural changes in America,” according to the FBI.
Thomas Carey, 21, who is from New York but was living in the Oakland area, is charged with misdemeanor counts related to joining the group in parading through the building, including the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Mr. Carey, who is seen in video surveillance wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, is accused with four others, including Joseph Brody, 23, of Springfield, Va., who faces felony counts in connection with assaulting police. The FBI arrested Mr. Brody on Sept. 15 in Virginia. Agents also arrested Mr. Carey that day in Pittsburgh.
Mr. Carey and three others — Gabriel Chase of Florida; Jon Lizak of New York and Paul Lovley of Maryland — are all charged with misdemeanors. Prosecutors said all of the young men communicated in advance of the insurrection and entered the Capitol together at 2:16 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021.
During the riot, video shows the five moving through the building, including Ms. Pelosi's office and conference room. Mr. Brody also entered the Senate floor and filmed the desks of senators.
After about 35 minutes, the group left and moved to the north end of the Capitol and witnessed the breach of the north door, prosecutors said. Mr. Brody helped someone else in the mob in using a metal barricade against a police officer who was trying to secure the door, according to the FBI. Mr. Brody and Mr. Chase also destroyed media equipment, prosecutors said.
All five are in their early 20s and knew each other before the attack, the FBI said. At least one, Mr. Chase, is a student at the University of Florida, where agents conducted surveillance on him in February of this year as he walked into class. Agents said in an affidavit that four of the five, not including Mr. Carey, initially met at an America First rally and attended other rallies after that, although no time-frame was included. All five traveled together from various East Coast locations on Jan. 5 to meet in Washington on the 6th.
The FBI listed Mr. Carey and Mr. Lizak as both from Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., although Mr. Carey has an address in Pittsburgh. Agents said they found Mr. Carey's mother's social media profile, which contained a picture of Mr. Carey, Mr. Chase and Mr. Lizak together, apparently on a wilderness hike.
Agents later linked Mr. Carey's phone with a Venmo account connected to the others and determined that he had an address in Cold Spring Harbor and a New York driver's license. The image on the license matches images from surveillance footage at the Capitol.
The FBI watched Mr. Carey in Pittsburgh on Sept. 1 and saw him leaving his apartment building.
Mr. Carey joins the ranks of some two dozen Western Pennsylvania defendants charged in the insurrection. Overall, the FBI has arrested more than 870 people and the investigation is continuing.
First Published: September 21, 2022, 1:35 p.m.
Updated: September 21, 2022, 1:48 p.m.
