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John Banuelos is accused of firing a gun during the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photos from court documents)
An Illinois man seen in video firing a pistol atop scaffolding outside the Capitol building during the insurrection has been arrested, authorities said.
John Banuelos, 39, is charged with felonies including civil disorder, trespassing with a deadly or dangerous weapon and carrying and discharging a firearm. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, federal prosecutors said.
According to court documents, Banuelos was identified in open-source media near former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally that day.
Banuelos first allegedly made his gloved hand into the form of a “finger gun” and simulated “firing” multiple times in the direction of officers holding a line, authorities said. Then, he allegedly pushed against officers to try to breach the line, raising his jacket at one point to reveal a firearm in his waistband.
At 2:33 p.m.,
Banuelos scaled the southwest inaugural stage scaffolding, waved the crowd toward him and a gun from his waistband, raised it into the air and fired two shots, authorities alleged. He then put the gun back into his waistband, climbed down the scaffolding and rejoined the crowd below, officials said.
According to the statement of facts, he had been seen around the grounds on video throughout the day. He wore brown and black boots, jeans, a navy blue shirt, and black knee pads with white labeling affixed with green and red bungee cords. He wore a white “Trump 2020” cowboy hat with stars and stripes, a red knit hat, and gray cloth wrapped around his neck.
He surfaced as a suspect on Feb. 4, 2021, when someone who had known the suspect for years called the National Threat Operations Center and identified him as the individual in an FBI photo.
That person told agents Banuelos that he was in a video seen pushing against officers and flashing a gun. On Oct. 4, 2023, an account with the vanity name “John Banuelos” appears to show him racking the slide of a semi-automatic weapon in a video.
In an interview with an FBI agent, Banuelos denied intending to threaten anyone and claimed many of his posts were done by artificial intelligence.
He allegedly said any weapons seen in his posts on X were “fake and/or done by artificial intelligence,” but he agreed to refrain from posting any further threatening messages, court documents said.
A check of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database revealed that he was not licensed to carry a firearm on Jan. 6, 2021, authorities said.
More than 1,358 people have been charged for crimes related to the Capitol breach, including more than 486 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony, officials said.
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