Riley June Williams: Capitol rioter arrested, ex lover says he saw footage of her stealing Pelosi's laptop
A Capitol Hill protester has been arrested after she allegedly stole a laptop from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and planned to sell it to Russian intelligence. 22-year-old Riley June Williams, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was caught on video actively taking part in the Capitol Hill protests and directing others, according to the Department of Justice. FBI agent John Lund detailed the allegations in a court affidavit, noting how a former romantic partner of Williams had told the agency that she had taken either a laptop or a hard drive from Pelosi's office during the siege on January 6.
Identified only as W1, the former lover also claimed they watched footage recorded by other associates showing Williams stealing the item from Pelosi's office. “[Witness 1] stated that Williams intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service,” per court documents.
Williams was charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct after she was seen on video directing other protesters during the unrest. However, she has not been charged for the alleged theft of the device so far. According to a report by CBS3, police said Williams fled the Harrisburg apartment she shares with her mother. However, they arrested her in central Pennsylvania Monday night. "According to local law enforcement officers in Harrisburg, Williams’ mother stated that Williams packed a bag and left her home and told her mother she would be gone for a couple of weeks," the affidavit stated. "Williams did not provide her mother any information about her intended destination."
Photos from the aftermath showed a number of offices inside the Capitol ransacked, including Pelosi's. "The transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it," Lund wrote in the affidavit. "This matter remains under investigation."
The Pennsylvania-based care worker became a person of interest after video from the riots emerged showing her apparently directing other rioters, saying, "up the stairs, up the stairs." Her parents, however, claimed that Williams was a peaceful protestor, according to ITV News, and that she was lost in the crowd.
Her mother, Wendy Williams told ITV, "She's definitely not a leader. I just think, I know there was another woman beside her also doing it, I think she was like ’they’re letting us up, they’re letting us up, let’s go'. She’s a 22-year-old who, like I said, is very empathetic and loving."
As MEAWW previously reported, the said affidavit noted how Williams changed her phone number after the riots and deleted her social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Telegram, and Parler. The complaint sought to charge Williams for "knowingly enter or remain in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so" and "knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions, engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions or attempts or conspires to do so."
The affidavit also sought to file charges against Williams for "willfully and knowingly (D) utter loud, threatening, or abusive language, or engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct, at any place in the Grounds or in any of the Capitol Buildings with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of a session of Congress or either House of Congress, or the orderly conduct in that building of a hearing before, or any deliberations of, a committee of Congress or either House of Congress," and "parade, demonstrate, or picket in any of the Capitol Buildings."