Infowars host Owen Shroyer accused of role in Jan 6 riot seeks $250K to fund defense
Owen Shroyer has become the latest person to be named for his role in the insurrection on Capitol Hill, and he seems very keen to fight the charges. The Infowars host has declared his innocence and is gearing up for a legal fight, with some help from fans. He's reportedly seeking $250,000 in donations to help fund his defense and has nearly closed in on that through GiveSendGo, a crowdfunding site popular with the right-wing.
Over six months since rioters broke into the US Capitol, the FBI continues to round up suspects, while others are beginning to face trials. On August 12, cops arrested anti-abortion extremist David Mehaffie from Dayton, Ohio. In July, a former member of the US Army, Robert Morss was arrested with a fully constructed Capitol lego set. Morss was amongst the 22 current or former military and police personnel arrested for their roles in the insurrection.
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The violent attack on Capitol Hill attracted a wide range of pro-Trump supporters, and now we know they also include members of the media. Shroyer hosts the daily show 'The War Room With Owen Shroyer,' on Infowars, the website owned by controversial right-wing commentator Alex Jones. He was named in a criminal complaint filed on August 19 and has a warrant out for his arrest. But he's made it clear he won't go down without a fight.
Charges against Shroyer
The Austin-based host is one of the 58 Texans charged for participating in the insurrection. The criminal complaint shows that he was not only present on in Washington DC, but also actively participated in the events that day. He addressed crowds in Freedom Plaza on January 5, and said, "Americans are ready to fight. We’re not exactly sure what that’s going to look like perhaps in a couple of weeks if we can’t stop this certification of the fraudulent election . . . we are the new revolution!"
He was also featured prominently in promotional material circulated by Infowars, including a poster in front of the US Capitol building. On January 6, video footage shows him marching to the Capitol from the Ellipse shortly before the building was breached. He was then seen in multiple photos standing in restricted areas, along with large crowds. "The FBI received a video from an anonymous tip that depicts Shroyer at the top of the stairs on the east side of the Capitol," the complaint added.
He even identified himself in one video posted on Infowars, saying, "on this side alone there's probably about 100,000 people. They’ve taken the Capitol grounds, they’ve surrounded the building itself, they’re on the actual building structure. . . . We literally own these streets right now." As a result, he was charged with violent and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and entering a restricted area without authority, both misdemeanors.
Shroyer turns to public for support
After the complaint was made public, Shroyer turned to Infowars to declare his innocence. "There's a lot of questions. Some I have answers to; some I don't. ... I plan on declaring innocence of these charges because I am," he said on August 20. He also said that he would turn himself in on August 23. Aware that he could face prison, he's also looking for support from Infowars fans. He opened a GoFundMe page to drum up support, but it was quickly suspended by the platform.
Since then, Shroyer has turned to GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site that is often used by members of the right, who have been banned by GoFundMe. At the time of reporting, the page is still up and Shoryer has $194,934 of his $250,000 goal. The website also has a brief statement from legal counsel Norm Pattis, who said, "This prosecution is a frontal assault on the First Amendment. We intend to fight it as though the rights of every American to speak out, assemble and petition for redress of grievances are at stake because, in fact, those rights are in jeopardy."
As with many others on the right, Shroyer has also blamed the media for his charges. "I, as well as many other people in this country, are being politically persecuted by our federal government, and by the Democrat Party and by big media and by big tech," he said in a video posted to Infowars. He's also drummed up the drama with his image on GiveSendGo, which has his moth taped with the word "censored".
For Shroyer, the legal battle is twofold. He is also accused of violating a plea deal he signed in February 2020. That deal came after he was arrested for disrupting a House Judiciary impeachment hearing in December 2019. Shroyer was charged with disorderly conduct and impeding passage and agreed not to demonstrate or picket within any Capitol buildings for four months. While that time has passed, he still hasn't completed the agreed 32 hours of community service he was supposed to.