Maryland resident Matthew Buckler has now become one of the latest Trump supporters and Capitol riot participants to face federal criminal charges over their role in the violence. As summarized by Newsweek, his charges include “knowingly entering or remaining on restricted grounds as well as disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building,” and the same publication adds that FBI agents became “aware of Buckler’s alleged presence at the insurrection after a tipster sent in screenshots of Buckler’s Snapchat posts.” Buckler is far from the first participant in the violence to have openly documented their own involvement in criminal activities.
Feds have charged another Jan 6 defendant from Maryland
In charging document, prosecutors allege Matthew Buckler of La Plata, Md unlawfully entered Capitol thru broken window, recorded selfie video and said "We in this bitch. We in this bitch"…. while in Crypt area of Capitol pic.twitter.com/5fk2zOgKoo
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 21, 2021
Federal agents were apparently initially alerted to Buckler’s presence at the riot all the way back in January, and in May, authorities took possession of Buckler’s phone, which they found to contain seven videos that seemed to have been captured inside or around the Capitol. In one video, Buckler could be heard joining in a chant of “Stop the steal!”, referencing the false conspiracy theory that last year’s presidential election was somehow stolen for Joe Biden. Trump, of course, was one of the most prominent proponents of this false notion, so Buckler’s video is yet another marker of the connections between the former president and the riot at the Capitol.
On the day of the riot, Buckler – like other participants in the violence – entered the Capitol building through a broken window, per security footage of the scene. Once inside, Buckler can also be seen waving towards others outside the window in apparent encouragement of those fellow rioters’ efforts to get inside. Now, Buckler’s next appearance in court is set for November 2. He is among hundreds of Trump supporters who have been charged for their roles in perpetrating the Capitol violence, with dozens having already accepted plea deals but many others still making their way through other proceedings.
The House committee investigating the Capitol violence has been making significant progress in its own work to uncover the truth of circumstances surrounding the riot. This week, The Guardian reported that the panel was considering issuing subpoenas targeting former top Trump aides like former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump campaign chairman Brad Parscale. The committee has also sent out requests for troves of relevant records from federal agencies, and according to members of the panel, it has already received significant quantities of materials in response to these requests.
