A southern California man who was formerly a student at UCLA and aligned himself with far-right extremist Nicholas Fuentes was sentenced Wednesday to three and a half years in prison for participating in the Capitol riot.
The rioter, 24-year-old Christian Alexander Secor, was among those who went inside the building during the Capitol chaos, where he sat in the chair in the Senate chamber used that day by then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was helping lead the Congressional proceedings to certify the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Secor evidently previously described himself as a fascist and founded a Trump-aligned campus organization at UCLA called America First Bruins. (The Bruins are UCLA’s contribution to college athletics; they have a pair of mascots.) Secor was originally charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement seemingly connected to his assistance in pushing through a group of police inside the Capitol, but that charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding, which is a felony.
Secor sent text messages seemingly outlining — in rather clear terms — the kind of intent necessary under relevant legal standards for the obstruction charge. He claimed he brought a gas mask with him to D.C., adding: “Wouldn’t be surprised if conservatives just storm the police and clobber antifa and the police but that’s wishful thinking.” And yet, he sounded prepared. “We’re gonna win bigly and if we don’t we’re taking this ship down in flames,” he said in November 2020. Secor attended the outdoor rally in D.C. where Trump spoke that day before venturing to the Capitol building with other rioters. Originally, Secor bragged on Twitter about the riot before deleting his Twitter account where he had done so within days of the violence. Secor’s defense attorney said the defendant “never set out to assault anyone or to participate in a riot.” As for the first point, Secor no longer faced an assault charge when his defense presented the sentencing memo evidently containing these arguments.
Secor is not the first individual with ties to Fuentes and his ideology arrested for participating in the riot. Last month, details of charges against five young men from five different states emerged; the group hailed from Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. One of those rioters was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting police, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder — all felonies. Members of the group also went into a Capitol office for House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“Additionally, the investigation has shown that [Lovley], Brody, Chase, Lizak, and Carey were associated with a group known as America First,” a federal court filing said. “Leadership of America First has espoused a belief that they are defending against the demographic and cultural changes in America. [Lovley], Brody, Chase, and Lizak initially met at an America First event and attended subsequent events together. After meeting, they continued to communicate through a social media platform. Carey traveled with [Lovley], Chase, and Lizak and met Brody in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.” America First is Fuentes’s movement. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) have both spoken at a conference helmed by Fuentes and America First.
