FBI arrested 5 members of Texas family who participated on January 6 Capitol breach

 

Tom, Dawn, Kristi, Kayli and Josh Munn. Charges include entering a restricted building & disorderly conduct.

By Edward Era Barbacena

WASHINGTON — The FBI arrested five members of the same Texas family Tuesday on charges alleging they entered the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 with a mob attempting to stop the certification of Electoral College votes.

Arrest warrants were served Tuesday on Tom, Dawn, Kristi, Kayli and Josh Munn – all five of Borger, Texas. The quintet was charged Monday in a sealed complaint with four counts, including entering a restricted building without lawful authority and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

Kristi Munn, Tom Munn, Dawn Munn, Josh Munn and Kayli Munn in the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Justice Department obscured a portion of this image to protect the identity of a minor.

According to court documents, the FBI was tipped off to the family’s possible presence at the Capitol just days after Jan. 6 by an acquaintance. Investigators subsequently found posts and messages on several of the family members’ social media accounts appearing to confirm they were at, and inside, the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6.

In one post, investigators say Kristi Munn wrote, “I was just thinking… tear gas tastes like freedom #StopTheSteal #TrumpIsMyPresident.” When a friend asked if she knew that from personal experience, she responded, “I do now,” and, “They gassed us all.”

Federal investigators pointed to extensive social media posts from many members of the family in order to make the arrests on Tuesday, in one of the largest single-day sweeps of defendants in one Capitol riot case to date.

The Justice Department said that Thomas "Tom" Munn had encouraged people on social media to travel to DC in the weeks before the riot. In a December Facebook post, Tom Munn wrote, "Our President has only asked two things from us, so far... #1 Vote #2 January 6, 2021." In another post cited in court documents, Tom Munn wrote "The time has come!"

In another post, the FBI says a family member who did not go to the Capitol posted a picture of several of the Munns with the caption, “These women stormed OUR capital [sic] and demanded OUR House and Country back!!!!”

The Munns were also found on a livestream inside the Capitol in the Senate Wing shot by far-right media personality Anthime “Baked Alaska” Gionet – who himself faces multiple charges connected to January 6.

The Munns were taken into custody in Texas on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear as of Tuesday afternoon whether they had yet made an initial appearance before a judge.