48-year-old Jamie Buteau and 44-year-old Jennifer Buteau, both of whom are Florida residents, have now become two of the latest supporters of ex-President Trump to be arrested by federal authorities for their participation in the January riot at the Capitol. The couple appeared in Q: Into The Storm, a documentary about the QAnon conspiracy theory that was shown on HBO this year. Among other displays of their support for ex-President Trump, the two of them also attended a Trump rally in 2018, where Jamie held a sign in support of QAnon. At the Capitol, Jamie hurled a chair at officers.
Federal authorities uncovered security footage showing Jamie with the chair that he threw at law enforcement personnel who were trying to defend the Capitol grounds against the marauding Trump supporters. Now, HuffPost explains that Jamie “faces charges of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; and engaging in physical violence on Capitol grounds,” while both he and Jennifer face misdemeanor charges including “disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building” and “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.” The two of them went in the Capitol via a broken window. Jamie’s more serious apparent crimes obviously suggest a potentially longer prison sentence in the end.
According to an affidavit from the FBI in the Buteaus’ case, authorities received tips from the public tying the couple to the riot. Jennifer apparently claimed on Facebook that “Antifa was infiltrating Trump supporters for the cameras,” although there’s no actual real-world evidence for this claim. Federal authorities have charged hundreds of individuals in connection to the Capitol riot, and they’re supporters of ex-President Trump, not some covert Antifa infiltrators.
This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that a select committee was getting formed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the riot. That committee investigation will provide an opportunity for examining issues like the role of Trump’s incitement and, even more acutely, what exactly he was doing at the White House as the violence unfolded. For awhile, Trump remained (publicly) quiet. The committee that Pelosi has announced, like other Congressional committees, will have powers like the ability to issue subpoenas.
