Who is Anton Lunyk? NY man with MAGA hat busted for Jan 6 Capitol siege after being seen in Baked Alaska video
A 26-year-old Brooklyn man was arrested on Tuesday, May 11, for allegedly joining in the Capitol riots on January 6, federal prosecutors said.
Anton Lunyk, a Midwood resident, was arrested by authorities at his home on charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds and impeding, disrupting, or disturbing the orderly conduct of a session of Congress, according to prosecutors.
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Former President Donald Trump's supporters barged into the US Capitol building as a joint session on Congress was in the process of affirming Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential elections.
Lunyk was actually identified from a photo used in a news post about a far-right streamer named 'Baked Alaska', who had live-streamed himself storming the Capitol early this year. In the photo, Lunyk can be seen in the background wearing a grey hoodie, a red 'Make America Great Again' cap, holding up a cellphone and smiling widely.
Far-right streamer 'Baked Alaska' stormed Capitol while COVID-19 positive https://t.co/zeNPZAyecq pic.twitter.com/yE8UHLGaGw
— New York Post (@nypost) January 7, 2021
According to the latest reports, a student who attended college with him saw this image, recognized the man in the background and then reportedly provided a tip to the FBI on January 18, confirming it was of Lunyk, as per feds.
Reports also mention another person who sent the feds an Instagram post by Lunyk, that was captioned, "This is going to be an interesting next few weeks ... who else is going to DC this week?"
Who is Anton Lunyk?
Anton Lunyk, 26, drove from New York the night before the Capitol riots and returned on January 6 just before 9 pm, according to license plate recognition data shown in court documents.
Lunyk had reportedly also posted a photo of himself in a MAGA hat with the caption “’Merica.” However, the court papers allege that some of the posts have since been deleted.
Numerous surveillance videos show the person purported to be Lunyk roaming the halls of the Capitol building. "Law enforcement reviewed the live streaming video and identified the location of LUNYK as within the designated working space of a United States Senator" but didn't specify the senator.
During his appearance via teleconference in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, May 11, represented by federal public defender Michael Weil, prosecutors did not seek his detention and he was ordered to be released on his own recognizance with travel restrictions.
He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, DC via teleconference on May 20. More than 140 people were reportedly injured in the storming of the US Capitol. Five people died either shortly before, during, or after the event.
Tim Gionet, the white supremacist troll known as Baked Alaska, in whose video Lunyk made the cameo, streamed more than 20 minutes of his time inside the building on the blockchain service DLive. He was also not wearing a mask during this time. Shortly after, it was reported that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
