Eagan post office worker charged in connection to Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack
MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota man who works at a post office in Eagan has been charged in connection to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Frank Joseph Bratjan Jr. has been federally charged with entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct at a Capitol building, and parading and demonstrating in a Capitol building.
FBI Minneapolis was tipped off in January of 2022 about Bratjan's presence at the Capitol on the day of the insurrection, an affidavit says. The tipster said Bratjan, who had been living with his father near Syracuse, New York, took a selfie after breaking into the Capitol and sent the photo to his mother.
Bratjan then became scared of investigations and moved back to Minnesota to live with his mother in Victoria and work at a post office in Eagan, the tipster said.
Investigators were able to find Bratjan's driver's license and confirm he had lived in Syracuse and worked at the Eagan post office.
Another tipster said that Bratjan had discussed going into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bratjan had made social media posts about entering the Capitol, the second tipster said. Social media screenshots obtained by the FBI discussed how Bratjan "approached the Capitol building with an army of American patriots" and how he stormed "up the steps and into the halls." Bratjan had deleted his social media posts relating to the riot.
But in a YouTube video that showed Bratjan's improvements to his van so that he could live a "van life" he is wearing a red hat, which FBI investigators took and matched with surveillance video from inside the Capitol building. Bratjan is wearing the same hat in both videos, the affidavit says.
The surveillance video shows Bratjan allegedly entering the Capitol through a broken window at 2:22 p.m. Other online video shows Bratjan standing in a crowd trying to approach law enforcement officers, who were preventing rioters from approaching Sen. Mitch McConnell's offices.
Bratjan left the Capitol building at 2:57 p.m. through the East Rotunda doors, the statement says.
He is now among eight other Minnesotans who have been arrested in connection to the riots.