Rioters who heard the now-disgraced ex-President Trump’s call to violence at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 are learning now that their MAGA cult leader really didn’t win that November election, can’t pardon them, and has moved on with his life while they reap the rewards of their insurrection. The rewards are imprisonment and criminal records, as Pennsylvania’s Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith, are now discovering.
“We broke into the Capitol…we got inside, we did our part. We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain but we didn’t find her.” — Dawn Bancroft, arrested in Pennsylvania today, along with Diana Santos-Smith. pic.twitter.com/8uDSehLC7q
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) January 29, 2021
An affidavit from the FBI’s office shows that an anonymous tip led them to Bancroft and Santos-Smith, who entered the Capitol Building during the riot and captured smiling videos of the two women saying they had been inside the building and were leaving. At one point in the video, Bancroft says that the two wanted to assassinate Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), but had been unable to find her. The video was shared via a message but then deleted to prevent law enforcement from finding it. They found it anyway.
According to the affidavit:
‘On or about January 12, 2021, the FBI received a tip with a video purported to be filmed by BANCROFT. The video was a “selfie” video which depicted BANCROFT and another woman, later identified as SANTOS-SMITH, in the process of attempting to exit the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The video further captured a large mob of individuals who had become bottlenecked at a Capitol exit point. During the video, BANCROFT stated, “We broke into the Capitol…we got inside, we did our part.” BANCROFT continued, “We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain but we didn’t find her.”’
Santos-Smith initially also tried to lie to the FBI, saying that she and Bancroft had never entered the building. When shown footage of some of the video she had taken, she was forced to admit that the two had entered, but said that they believed they were being “allowed” in. She eventually retracted that statement, as well, saying she knew that the two should not be inside the Capitol. Admitting that to police most likely will seal her fate in court, as well as the attempts to destroy evidence.
‘BANCROFT stated that she was aware that she was entering restricted grounds when she entered through the Capitol Building window. BANCROFT stated that she had taken video of herself and SANTOS-SMITH inside the Capitol Building but had deleted it. BANCROFT further stated that she had sent the video to her children and subsequently instructed her children to delete it. BANCROFT showed the FBI agents additional photographs and videos on her cell phone that she filmed on January 6, 2021.’
Santos-Smith allegedly lied to FBI agents on the day that President Biden was inaugurated, claiming she didn’t enter the Capitol. Then, after agents showed her video of her inside the Capitol, she admitted she lied. pic.twitter.com/p07aA6dc1Y
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) January 29, 2021
The crimes for which the two women are being charged carry hefty penalities, up to and including imprisonment. It is unclear at this point whether the current charges for which the Capitol rioters have been accused will remain the same or increase upon further investigation.
‘There is probable cause to believe that BANCROFT and SANTOS-SMITH violated 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1) and (2), which makes it a crime to (1) knowingly enter or remain in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do; and (2) knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions, engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions; or attempts or conspires to do so.’
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
