California woman stormed Capitol during Jan. 6 riot with sword, steel whip and pepper spray, FBI says
A California woman is charged with taking a cache of weapons, including a sword, a steel whip and a knife into the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, according to court records unsealed Wednesday.
Kennedy Lindsey had a short sword, a steel tactical whip, a collapsible baton, pepper spray, a butterfly knife and a flashlight taser in her possession when a U.S. Secret Service officer searched her backpack, according to an FBI affidavit.
Lindsey was arrested in Los Angeles last month on charges including disorderly conduct and possession of a dangerous weapon.
More than 1,400 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Rioters were armed with an array of weapons on Jan. 6, including firearms, knives and stun guns. Many others used items like flagpoles and broken pieces of office furniture as makeshift weapons during the siege.
Lindsey was charged with a woman who flew with her from California to Washington, D.C. Lindsey bought plane tickets for both of them after then-President Donald Trump announced that there would be a "wild" protest there on Jan. 6. Lindsey posted on social media that she was going because "boss man called for us to be there."
After attending Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House, the two women rode to the Capitol on the back of a golf cart.
"Everyone is storming the building, folks," Lindsey said on a self-recorded video, according to the affidavit. "We must do this as patriots. It says so in the Constitution."
Surveillance video captured Lindsey entering the Capitol Building by jumping through a broken window, the affidavit says.
In another self-recorded video, Lindsey says, "It's we the people who rule, not them," and "I should have brought that gas mask," according to the affidavit.
Lindsey, who wore a red "Make America Great Again" hat and a tactical vest, entered the Capitol through a broken window, the FBI said. The Secret Service officer who approached Lindsey had seen the sword strapped to her leg, according to the affidavit.
Lindsey later told the FBI that she had retrieved the backpack from her hotel room after attending Trump's speech. She described her confiscated weapons as "tools" and acknowledged that they were in her backpack when she entered the Capitol, the affidavit says.
Lindsey was released from custody after her July 28 arrest.
Lindsey didn't immediately respond to a text message seeking comment. An attorney who represented Lindsey at her initial court appearance didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Last month, actor Jay Johnston, who played a street-brawling newsman in the movie "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," pleaded guilty to interfering with police officers trying to protect the Capitol from the mob's attack.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a former Pennsylvania police officer who was charged with obstructing an official proceeding after he entered the U.S. Capitol building during the riot, and narrowed the Justice Department's use of a federal obstruction statute leveled against scores of people who breached the building. The decision could affect the ongoing prosecutions of nearly 250 defendants charged with obstruction for their participation in the Jan. 6 assault.
The government has recovered only a fraction of the court-ordered restitution payments for repairs, police injuries and cleanup of the damage caused by the rioters, according to a review by CBS News. Former President Donald Trump has publicly pledged to pardon Jan. 6 defendants but hasn't specified whether he would also seek to commute their restitution payments.