A former mayoral candidate in Texas said she was ‘proud’ to be among the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and bragged about how the mob had stolen Nancy Pelosi’s gavel after ‘breaking down the door’ of the Speaker’s office.
Wearing a Trump flag and what she claimed was a bulletproof hoodie, Jenny Cudd boasted in a Facebook video about how the supposed ‘patriots’ had invaded the US Congress after listening to Donald Trump stir up his supporters and repeat his baseless claims of election fraud in a speech near the White House.
She filmed the video after the intruders were cleared out of the Capitol on Wednesday – but later claimed that she ‘did not do anything illegal, vandalize, or hurt anyone’ after her video was widely shared online, according to CBS7.
Cudd was one of several political candidates who took part in the attack on the Capitol, along with former US House nominee Rick Saccone of Pennsylvania and recently-elected lawmaker Derrick Evans of West Virginia.
Jenny Cudd, on the left of the picture wearing a Trump flag, was among the mob who invaded the Capitol on Wednesday – and boasted that she was ‘proud’ to have taken part in the intrusion egged on by the president
Cudd came last in a three-way mayoral race in Midland, Texas, in November 2019, and current mayor Patrick Payton said he was ‘saddened’ by her involvement in the mob.
‘It saddens me. And that’s just as far as I’m willing to comment on that. It saddens me,’ he said, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
Cudd told the same outlet that she had merely taken pictures in the Capitol rotunda and did not intrude into the House or Senate chambers or congressional offices.
Condemning the violence that shocked the world, she claimed she had merely wanted to protest with fellow Trump supporters in a ‘show of solidarity’.
Cudd (pictured) came last in a three-way mayoral race in Midland, Texas, in November 2019, and current mayor Patrick Payton said he was ‘saddened’ by her involvement
But in her since-deleted Facebook video, she had spoken cheerfully about how ‘we did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door’.
Speaking on Pennsylvania Avenue, she said she had listened to Trump’s provocative speech near the White House before heading towards Congress.
‘We start walking up to the Capitol, and we get the news that Pence betrayed us,’ she said – after the vice president refused to submit to Trump’s demands to try and throw out electoral votes that were legitimately cast for Joe Biden.
‘When Pence betrayed us is when we decided to storm the Capitol,’ she said. ‘So we get to the Capitol and some of the patriots had already broken down all of the barricades.’
Describing what happened inside, she said: ‘We didn’t knock down any statues, we didn’t vandalize anything – but we did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door.
‘Somebody stole her gavel, and took a picture sitting in the chair, flipping off the camera… patriots got down on the floor and were sitting in the House members and the Senators’ chairs.’
Cudd said the mob had stayed in the Capitol as long as we could until they started gassing us, and they started hitting patriots with batons’.
Repeatedly referring to the intruders as ‘patriots’, she said the MAGA mob was a ‘bunch of red-blooded American patriots that actually give a s*** about our country and keeping it’.
She later added: ‘The government serves at the consent at the governed. Well the governed are p****d off, and the governed don’t trust them.
‘So yeah, I’m proud of everything that I was a part of today, and I’ll be proud of everything that I’m a part of at the next one, and we’ll see what happens at that.’
Cudd has since tried to distance herself from the violence, saying she left the rotunda after taking pictures for about 15 minutes.
A picture taken by a news agency showed her taking photos with her smartphone while fellow Trump supporters occupied the rotunda.
In one of many striking images that shook the foundations of American democracy on Wednesday, the steps of the US Capitol were lit up by a police munition as rioting Trump supporters occupied the building
The siege has led to questions over how the mob got inside the Capitol so easily, prompting the resignation of the head of the US Capitol Police.
The FBI is now asking for help in tracking down those responsible for ‘rioting and violence’ in the Capitol, with some of the mob already identified online.
The group included white nationalists, neo-Nazis and QAnon conspiracy theorists, coming from states as far-flung as Arizona and Oregon.
At least 68 people have already been arrested over the riot, which ended in the deaths of five people including a Capitol police officer.
Acting attorney general Jeffery Rosen said: ‘The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that those responsible for this attack on our Government and the rule of law face the full consequences of their actions under the law.’
Here DailyMail.com breaks down some of those who have been identified:
The ‘QAnon Shaman’ – Jake Angeli
The heavily-tattooed Trump supporter who sported horns, a fur hat and face paint and occupied the Senate dais moments after Vice President Mike Pence delivered his rebuke to Donald Trump has been revealed to be an Arizona-based QAnon believer who used to promote himself as a singer and actor.
Jake Angeli, 32, often known as the QAnon Shaman, has become a fixture at recent right-wing rallies while decked out in his signature attire.
One of his tattoos is said to show the symbol of Wotanism, an acronym for ‘Will of the Aryan Nation.’
Dr Adam Rutherford tweeted: ‘I know this jamiroquoi wannabe muthaf***a is kinda funny but his tattoo is the symbol of Wotanism, which is a Nazi/Odin occult that believes Jews control the government, the Holocaust is exaggerated and champions the 14/88 slogan. He’s a real card-carrying Nazi.’
Angeli was at the front of a group of agitators who broke into the Capitol and faced off with DC police who desperately tried in vain to protect the establishment.
He then made his way into the Senate chamber where he was seen shouting and posing for photos.
Angeli flexed his left arm as he stood behind the dais in the Senate chamber where just moments earlier Vice President Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi had stood.
He was flanked by an American flag and his fellow rioters took photos of him on their smartphones.
The heavily-tattooed Trump supporter, who has become a fixture at recent right-wing rallies decked out in his signature attire, has been identified as Jake Angeli
The ‘Qanon Shaman’ was also seen screaming in the chamber and clutching a megaphone.
Angeli has become a prominent figure at pro-Trump rallies, always sporting his signature outfit of fur, horns, face paint and bare chest, where he has spouted off about QAnon conspiracy theories.
Most recently he has been active at Arizona rallies calling for the results of the presidential election to be overturned, after Trump has refused to concede and pushed unfounded claims of voter fraud ever since he lost to Joe Biden.
Angeli has previously admitted his belief in QAnon started after reading conspiracy theories on the internet
At a pro-Trump rally at the Arizona State Capitol in February, he held aloft a banner reading ‘Q Sent Me’ in reference to QAnon.
He was also seen at reopen Arizona rallies protesting against lockdowns put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In one photo posted on his Facebook account in November, where he calls himself Yellowstone Wolf, Angeli is seen shaking hands with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney – who hours before the violence kicked off encouraged supporters to pursue a ‘trial by combat’.
He has also posted about numerous conspiracy theories including a video claiming there is a ‘globalist plot for world domination thru the plandemic & its numerous different agendas’.
Angeli has previously admitted his belief in QAnon started after reading conspiracy theories on the internet.
‘At a certain point, it all clicked in a way,’ he said in an interview in February, reported AZCentral.
‘Oh, my God. I see now the reality of what’s going on.’
QAnon is the debunked extreme right wing conspiracy theory that claims Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Trump and are running a global child sex trafficking ring.
An undated profile for Angeli on Backstage.com shows the 32-year-old was a singer, screenwriter and actor.
Barnett has also bought into Trump’s unfounded claims that the election has been ‘stolen’ from him and has been spotted at other Stop The Steal rallies including one in Bentonville in November.
The longtime Arizona QAnon supporter dressed in fur and a horned helmet, was among the violent mob of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol Wednesday
An undated profile for Angeli on Backstage.com shows the 32-year-old was a singer, screenwriter and actor
QAnon is the debunked extreme right wing conspiracy theory that claims Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Trump and are running a global child sex trafficking ring. Angeli at a rally in Phoenix in November
In one photo posted on his Facebook account in November, where he calls himself Yellowstone Wolf, Angeli is seen shaking hands with Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal attorney who hours before the violence kicked off encouraged supporters to pursue a ‘trial by combat’
Florida firefighter – Andy Williams
Andy Williams was identified among the MAGA mob after a photo posted on social media showed him posing below a sign for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
He wore a trucker cap emblazoned with Trump’s campaign logo, along with a hydration backpack and a mask pushed under his chin.
Williams has served as a firefighter in Sanford, Florida, since 2016, department spokesperson Bianca Gillett confirmed.
He has been placed on leave pending an investigation by the city, Gillett said.
Andy Williams was identified among the MAGA mob after a photo posted on social media showed him posing below a sign for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office
‘Baby Lives Matter’ founder Tayler Hansen
Tayler Hansen, who founded an anti-abortion group called Baby Lives Matter, identifies himself as an independent journalist.
He was linked to Wednesday’s turmoil after posted a graphic video on Instagram which showed the aftermath of a shooting that left female protester Ashli Babbit of San Diego dead.
Babbit, 35, was reportedly shot by Capitol Police as she tried to climb through a window protesters had broken in an effort to get inside congressional chambers.
Hansen posted on Twitter Wednesday night: ‘After Ashli was killed outside the chamber doors— Our elected officials went back to work hours later as if it were nothing, these people don’t represent us. They are EVIL. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you’ll realize how much trouble our Country is in.’
Tayler Hansen, who founded an anti-abortion group called Baby Lives Matter, identifies himself as an independent journalist. He was linked to Wednesday’s turmoil after posted a graphic video on Instagram which showed the aftermath of a shooting that left female protester Ashli Babbit of San Diego dead
Adam Johnson – The stay-at-home dad who stole Pelosi’s lectern
The looter who smiled for a photo as he made off with a lectern has been identified as Adam Johnson – a psychology graduate turned furniture maker from Bradenton, Florida.
He is a stay-at-home dad to five children; his wife is a doctor, according to The Bradenton Herald. He has previously faced possession of marijuana and violation of probation charges, the paper reports.
Photos on his now-deleted social media accounts show him posing next to a sign reading ‘closed to all tours’ inside the building.
Johnson, 36, who was pictured inside the Capitol making off with a lectern, appears to have removed his social media platforms in the aftermath of the siege.
Another looter who smiled for a photo as he made off with a lectern has been named as Adam Johnson – a psychology graduate from Bradenton, Florida
Photos on his now-deleted social media accounts show him posing next to a sign reading ‘closed to all tours’ inside the building
Johnson, who was pictured inside the Capitol making off with a lectern, appears to have removed his social media platforms in the aftermath of the siege
Johnson shared images of himself sporting MAGA hats and sinking beers as he wrote that he had ‘made it to DC’ Tuesday – the day before the siege
Brooklyn Supreme Court judge’s son – Aaron Mostofsky
Aaron Mostofsky was pictured Wednesday walking down the stairs outside the Senate Chamber dressed in fur pelts and a bullet proof vest and carrying a wooden walking stick.
He is the son of Shlomo Mostofsky, a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, Gothamist reports.
Mostofsky was seen walking just ahead of a man carrying the confederate flag. He told The New York Post: ‘The election was stolen.’ He had refused to give the paper his name but said he found the riot shield on the floor.
His brother, Nachman Mostofsky, who also attended the rally but said he did not enter the Capitol building said his brother ‘did nothing illegal’ and ‘was pushed inside’.
Aaron Mostofsky was pictured Wednesday walking down the stairs outside the Senate Chamber dressed in fur pelts and a bullet proof vest and carrying a wooden walking stick
Organizer of a Trump boat parade – Kristina Malimon
The organizer of a Trump boat parade was also named as one of those arrested Wednesday.
Kristina Malimon, 28, was arrested along with her mother, 54-year-old Yevgeniya Malimon. They both now face charges of unlawful entry and violating curfew, Buzzfeed reports.
The younger Malimon helped to organize the event in Portland Oregon in August which resulted in a boat sinking.
She is also affiliated with the Young Republicans of Oregon and Turning Point USA.
Kristina Malimon, 28, was arrested along with her mother, 54-year-old Yevgeniya Malimon, according to reports
Kristina Malimon, 28, was arrested along with her mother, 54-year-old Yevgeniya Malimon. They both now face charges of unlawful entry and violating curfew, Buzzfeed reports. The younger Malimon helped to organize the event in Portland Oregon in August which resulted in a boat sinking. She is also affiliated with the Young Republicans of Oregon and Turning Point USA.
Navistar Direct Marketing employee
A Maryland marketing company on Thursday fired a pro Trump rioter who was seen walking through the Capitol with his work pass hanging around his neck.
Navistar Direct Marketing issued a statement Thursday which read: ‘Navistar Direct Marketing was made aware that a man wearing a Navistar company badge was seen inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 during the security breach.
‘After review of the photographic evidence the employee in question has been terminated for cause.’
The unidentified employee was pictured inside the Capitol building Wednesday.
‘While we support all employee’s right to peaceful, lawful exercise of free speech, any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity with Navistar Direct Marketing,’ the company added.
Several images of the worker show him alongside Angeli.
A Maryland marketing company has fired a pro Trump rioter who walked through the Capitol with his work pass hanging around his neck on Wednesday
Angeli leads a mob of supporters breaking into the Capitol Wednesday night causing lawmakers to evacuate the chambers
Shortly before 2pm, the rioters descended on Capitol Hill while lawmakers were inside certifying the vote. Over the next two hours, the violence escalated. Some broke into politicians’ offices, tauntingly sat at their desks and left threatening notes. One of the protesters was shot dead by cops (bottom right)
Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett
Meanwhile, the insurrectionist who brazenly put his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk in her office is now known to be a 60-year-old Arkansas man who claims he will run for Arkansas governor in 2022 and describes himself as a white nationalist online.
Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett boasted outside the Capitol following the siege that he ‘wrote [Pelosi] a nasty note, put my feet up on her desk and scratched my balls’.
A photo from Pelosi’s office showed another threatening note on her desk reading ‘we will not back down’.
Meanwhile, in Pelosi’s office, Barnett posed for a photo reclining in the House Speaker’s chair before he later returned to the crowd of supporters outside and flashed a hand-written envelope he had looted.
It later emerged Barnett is an independent contractor and was the recipient of a $9,300 PPP loan as part of a COVID relief package, The Daily Dot reports.
In Pelosi’s office, 60-year-old Barnett posed for a photo reclining in the House Speaker’s chair before he later returned to the crowd of supporters outside and flashed a hand-written envelope he had looted
In one selfie on his Facebook page, Barnett is seen posing with a semi-automatic rifle
Barnett later told the New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg he ‘fell’ into Pelosi’s office as he showed off the personalized envelope which was addressed to The Honorable Billy Long and had Pelosi’s signature on it.
‘I didn’t steal it,’ he claimed, saying he ‘left a quarter on her desk’.
‘And I left her a note on her desk that says ‘Nancy Bigo was here you b**ch’.’
He also denied storming her office, claiming he politely knocked on her office door and was pushed in by other protesters.
‘I’ll probably be telling them this is what happened all the way to the DC jail,’ he said.
In a November post on Facebook, where he goes by the alias George Reincarnated Patton, Barnett claimed he will run for governor of Arkansas in 2022 saying he will ‘be running on the COMMON SENSE platform’.
He has also shared images of the Gadsden flag snake – which is regarded as a racist symbol – and boasts of being a white nationalist.
In several photos, he is seen posing with semi-automatic rifles.
On Barnett’s Facebook, he has shared images of the Gadsden flag snake – which is regarded as a racist symbol – and boasts of being a white nationalist
Another supporter of US President Donald J. Trump sits on the desk of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after breaking in
Barnett inside the office with the envelope he stole and later flashed outside as he returned to the crowd
Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett later told the New York Times he ‘fell’ into her office after he was pictured making himself comfortable in Pelosi’s chair, as he showed off a personalized envelope he stole as a souvenir
Baked Alaska, real name Tim Gionet
Another of the mob was Tim Gionet, an online personality known as Baked Alaska who is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist who was involved in the far-right Charlottesville rally in 2017.
Gionet posted video that showed Trump supporters in ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘God Bless Trump’ hats milling around and taking selfies with officers who calmly asked them to leave the premises.
The Trump supporters talked among themselves, laughed, and told the officers and each other: ‘This is only the beginning.’
Gionet, who had his YouTube channel banned in 2020, is said to have attended the rally Wednesday after telling followers on January 4 that he had testing positive for COVID-19, The Daily Dot reports. He can be seen in pictures without a mask.
It is not clear when he tested positive for the virus or if he was tested before the rally.
Another of the mob was Tim Gionet, an online personality known as Baked Alaska who is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist who was involved in the far-right Charlottesville rally in 2017
Donald Trump signs the tattooed arm of Tim Gionet, an online personality known as Baked Alaska, in 2016
Rick Saccone, former state lawmaker in Pennsylvania
Even elected politicians were part of the mob.
Rick Saccone, who ran for a U.S. House seat in 2018 and was once a state lawmaker in Pennsylvania, bragged on Facebook that ‘we are storming the Capitol’ and that ‘our vanguard has broken through the barricades’.
Saccone also told his followers: ‘We are trying to run out all the evil people and RINOs that have betrayed our president. We are going to run them out of their offices.’
He later deleted that post but not before it was seen by his followers, CBS reports.
He added: ‘Hello Mr. President, we love you. Keep doing what you’re doing. We’re with you. Until next time, in God we trust.’
Even elected politicians were part of the mob. Rick Saccone, who ran for a U.S. House seat in 2018 and was once a state lawmaker in Pennsylvania, bragged on Facebook that ‘we are storming the Capitol’
In a later Facebook post Saccone said: ‘I see some people are twisting the peaceful protest into something else. Everyone from our group was involved in peaceful, first amendment assembly. It was part of the metaphor to storm the castle so to speak.
‘People that I heard breached some barricades to reach the steps to wave flags. Some carried a huge American flag up the steps which drew a loud roar of approval from the crowd. No one I no of intended or condones any violence unlike those on the left. Did not see any violence but did see some smoke what some said was tear gas being sprayed at people.
‘I cannot imagine anyone being shot for a trespass. The punishment for trespass is not death. My heart goes out to the young lady who was shot. Again, these were hundreds of thousands of peaceful protestors, especially those from Pa. What do you think?’
Derrick Evans
Derrick Evans, a member of West Virginia’s House of Delegates, streamed live footage from the Capitol Wednesday
Paul Davis livestreamed from outside the Capitol; he was later fired from his job
Derrick Evans, a member of West Virginia’s House of Delegates, streamed live footage from the Capitol as he joined in the march. He later claimed he was ‘simply there as an independent member of the media’.
Evans, who calls himself an activist online, later deleted the footage showing him rushing inside with the mob.
‘We’re going in,’ he tells followers.
In other clips he could be heard chanting ‘stop the steal’, The New York Times reports.
Joshua Pruitt, Proud Boy
Joshua Pruitt is the only person arrested on a felony charge of violating the Riot Act so far, according to the city’s arrest sheet.
The 39-year-old was taken into custody at the Capitol building.
He is reported to have links to the Proud Boy movement, CNN states.
Paul Davis, lawyer fired from his job
Paul Davis livestreamed from outside the Capitol to his followers online.
He is understood to have been fired from his job at Goosehead Insurance as a result.
A spokesman for the company told DailyMail.com: ‘His actions are not a representation of or supported by Goosehead in any way.
‘He is no longer employed by Goosehead, An official statement will be released.’
Davis later posted to Instagram saying: ‘For those of you claiming I was trying to ‘storm the Capitol,’ it’s obvious from my entire story that I was peacefully demonstrating. They gassed the entire crowd that was standing there with me. I was not trying to break in. Was just talking to the police officers and praying over them.’
Unidentified: the pro-Trumper wearing a ‘Camp Auschwitz’ shirt, the supporter carrying a Confederate flag
One of those pictured at the Capitol Wednesday wore a racist t-shirt which read ‘Camp Auschwitz’
The pro-Trumper wearing a ‘Camp Auschwitz’ shirt, far left, has not been identified. The FBI are asking for helping in finding rioters
A unidentified supporter of President Donald Trump carries a Confederate battle flag on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol near the entrance to the Senate after breaching security defenses
Jon Schaffer, heavy metal musician
Jon Schaffer, the guitarist in heavy metal band Iced Earth was also pictured breaching the Capitol Wednesday, LouderSound.com reports.
Schaffer, 52, warned in an interview last year: ‘They will go down. They’re messing with the wrong people, believe me.’
Jon Schaffer, the guitarist in heavy metal band Iced Earth, was also said to have been pictured breaching the Capitol, right in the blue sweatshirt
Leigh Ann Luck
Outside the chaos in the capitol, another vocal Trump supporter Leigh Ann Luck, dressed up as the Statue of Liberty as she shouted in protest against Biden’s victory.
The National Guard was deployed to help police enforce a 6pm curfew in DC. Hundreds of protesters remained on the Capitol grounds after the curfew went into effect and Mayor Muriel Bowser refused to say if violators would be arrested.
Earlier in the evening, President-elect Joe Biden called for the ‘mob to pull back’ and said the uprising bordered on sedition.
Trump – after remaining silent for much of the afternoon – posted a video telling his ‘very special’ supporters inside the Capitol that he loves them and understands their pain but urged them ‘to go home’.
He had initially encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol after a rally earlier in the afternoon before asking them only to remain peaceful when violence broke out.
Outside the chaos in the capitol, another vocal Trump supporter Leigh Ann Luck, dressed up as the Statue of Liberty as she shouted in protest against Biden’s victory
Leigh Ann Luck dressed up as Statue of Liberty poses for a picture as supporters of Donald Trump protested Biden’s victory
The Capitol was briefly secured before being placed on lockdown again at around 6.45pm due to an ‘internal security threat’ after an officer was reportedly found unconscious. Anyone inside a building at the Capitol complex was instructed to take cover in an office with doors locked.
But just before 8pm lawmakers who had been whisked to safety when the siege kicked off began arriving back at the Capitol to resume the Joint Session to certify the Electoral College count of the presidential election.
The lawmakers were seen flanked by armed guards as they made their way into the Capitol. A spokesperson for Vice President Mike Pence, who is residing over the Joint Session, said he was already in the building because he’d never left.
The crowd of Trump supporters at the Capitol also included adherents of the ‘Groyper Army,’ a loose network of white supremacists that includes ‘America First’ podcaster Nick Fuentes.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said the mob´s actions were ‘clearly consistent’ with the conspiratorial rhetoric of QAnon, the baseless belief that Trump has been secretly fighting deep state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex trafficking ring.
‘QAnon has been calling on this kind of madness for years,’ Greenblatt said.