January 6 rioter who was pardoned by Trump arrested for child sexual abuse | US Capitol attack
A man involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol who was pardoned by Donald Trump earlier this year has been arrested in Florida on multiple child sex abuse charges, according to local authorities.
His name was stated to be 44-year-old Andrew Paul Johnson. He was detained in Tennessee in August and extradited to Florida; here, according arrest recordsHe faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under the age of 12, lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between the ages of 12 and 16, as well as indecent and lascivious exposure and transmission of material harmful to minors.
The charges were: first reported by The Intercept earlier this week and records It shows Johnson being held at the Hernando County Detention Center in Spring Hill, Florida.
A. probable cause statement It alleges that in July, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office received a report that “two teenagers had been the victims of months of lewd and lascivious acts.”
Officers interviewed the mother of one of the children and said she discovered Johnson, identified as her ex-boyfriend living at the home, was sending “inappropriate” Discord messages to her son, the report said.
The woman said she asked her son about the messages and also asked if Johnson “did or said anything inappropriate,” and that her son told her that Johnson “harassed her three times” between “April 1, 2024, and October 2024.” When I was 11 years old.
The report also alleges that Johnson told the boy that he was “pardoned for attacking the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and that he would be given $10,000,000 for being a ‘January 6′” and that he would “give him a will to receive the remaining money.”
Investigators state that “this tactic” is believed to have been used to prevent the boy from “revealing what Andrew had done to him.”
Johnson has He did not admit his guilt.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. The White House also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest.
Johnson was among about 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack and who received pardons or commutations from Trump earlier this year.
Trump making public came up with the idea It was decided to pay compensation to those who were tried for their roles in the US Capitol attack, but none of them were awarded compensation yet. (His administration reportedly agreed to pay nearly $5 million to the family of the woman who was fatally shot by police during the riot.)
According to a FBI statementOn January 6, Johnson “illegally entered the Capitol” through a window breached by rioters on the Lower West Terrace and exited through the same opening. Later that day, he was arrested for violating a curfew in Washington, DC.
NBC News It reported that Johnson referred to himself as an “American Terrorist” and “Proud” and that authorities said he engaged in “erratic and disruptive behavior” for several more hours, encouraging other rioters to follow him.
Johnson pleaded guilty in April 2024 documents, to accusations including entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct, violent entry and disorderly conduct on a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing a Capitol building. Johnson a few months later attempt He wanted to withdraw his claim but was refused.
Last month, another man pardoned by Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. In July, another man pardoned for his role in January 6 was sentenced to life in prison for plotting an attack on an FBI office and law enforcement officers. And in May, another rioter who was pardoned for theft and vandalism was arrested in Virginia.
