FBI arrests Swansea man who was at the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Here's what he's charged with

The Swansea man who admittedly took part in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol building was arrested by the FBI in Fall River at his place of business on Pleasant Street on Thursday and arraigned on a federal felony offense of civil disorder and a host of misdemeanor charges.

Michael St. Pierre, 46 was arraigned Thursday afternoon at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston before Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell.

While St. Pierre was arraigned in a Boston federal court, his case will be tried by the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the District of Columbia, which issued an arrest warrant on July 20.

St. Pierre was released on bail with conditions for release, according to federal court clerk Francis Castilla.

The misdemeanor charges include destruction of government property; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

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What happened at the Jan. 6 riot

At the time of the riot, St. Pierre was the owner of Family Foods Grocery Outlet on William Canning Boulevard, a discount grocery store. A supporter of then-President Donald Trump, St. Pierre traveled with his wife and daughter to Washington, D.C., evidently to participate in rallies in support of Trump and in opposition to President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump has been investigated for claims that in a speech that day he riled up crowds of far-right supporters to overtake the Capitol building by force. The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack’s report found that Trump, who had not conceded his 2020 election loss and had spread false and disproven claims of voter fraud, summoned a mob of right-wing protesters to the Capitol, ostensibly to disrupt the counting of Electoral College ballots and, some have claimed, to stage a violent coup. The bipartisan committee unanimously voted to refer Trump to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

In a video posted at the time to his own Facebook page, St. Pierre, who also goes by the Facebook name "Mike Stadium" is seen wearing head gear and a flak jacket marching toward the Capitol, saying he wanted to assault House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Hopefully they’ll bust through, and I’ll join them to rush the Capitol, to grab Nancy Pelosi by the hair and f—— twirl her around,” St. Pierre states in the video.

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St. Pierre's participation in the riot on the Capitol was caught on video and blasted on social media a day after the insurrection that went viral.

Thomas M. Dalton, a special agent assigned in Boston and with the Counterterrorism Squad, cited images from surveillance cameras and other videos taken at the chaotic scene in an affidavit. After Capitol officers retreated inside the building to escape the violent crowd of Trump supporters, the affidavit says, St. Pierre allegedly threw objects at the doors.

"On January 12, 2021, the Boston FBI office received information that MICHAEL J. ST PIERRE (“ST PIERRE”), a grocery store owner in Fall River, Massachusetts, had traveled to Washington D.C. and had participated in the Capitol riots. This information was obtained from a social media article posted by an individual who uses the social media name “Turtle Boy.” This post identified ST PIERRE by name and included video of ST PIERRE hurling an unidentifiedobject at the interior doors of the Capitol building," according to Dalton's statement.

The post and video was posted on Turtle Boy’s social media post. Turtle Boy is a blogger from Massachusetts.

“In another open-source video ... St. Pierre is encouraging rioters to enter the Capitol building through a megaphone, stating 'We need everybody, let’s get in the Capitol,’” the affidavit reads.

St. Pierre, in his video, allegedly threatens Nancy Pelosi, who at the time was Speaker of the House and the object of much discourse by the rioters entering the Capitol.

"Based upon images, videos, and photographs, which I have seen during the course of this investigation, the person in the video associated with Still Image # 1 appears to be consistent with the person identified as ST PIERRE. In the video, ST PIERRE pans from his face to the U.S. Capitol building and states that the Capitol is “where the meeting ground is. Hopefully they’ll bust through, and I’ll join them to rush the Capitol, to grab Nancy Pelosi by the hair and f###### twirl her around,” according to Dalton.

The FBI agent also indicates that in video footage taken during the riot, shows St. Pierre egged on his fellow protesters during the melee.

"A screen capture from that video is depicted below as Still Image #9. At that point in the video, ST PIERRE appears to encourage others to join him, before pushing against other rioters who are pushing against a police line," according to the affidavit.

And St. Pierre is alleged to have encouraged rioters to enter the Capitol building via a megaphone, stating “We need everybody, let’s get in the Capitol,” according to the affidavit.

At least 138 police officers were injured in the attack. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of injuries suffered at the hands of protesters. Four rioters died in the uprising.

What St. Pierre said after the insurrection

A week after the riot, St. Pierre spoke to The Herald News where he admitted to being the man seen in the videos outside the Capitol, but he said he did not enter the Capitol building. He said the object he is seen throwing into the Capitol was a piece of a flag — and added that, in hindsight, he wished he had not been there.

“Most of the people that were there, were there just to have their voices heard. But there were people there just to rile everybody up,” St. Pierre said in January 2021. “I felt like crap the next day, I still feel like crap over the incident. It was supposed to be chanting and having our voices heard, but it turned into a girl dying and an officer dying. It got out of hand.”

He added at the time of that interview that he had been visited by FBI agents.

“The FBI already came to my house yesterday. I told them everything that happened," St. Pierre told The Herald News one week after the breach of the Capitol.

At the time he said he doesn’t know what will come of the federal investigation, adding, “But I’m not a violent guy, but I did get caught up in the moment,” he said.

The Family Foods Grocery Outlet closed in 2021 and has since been torn down. According to social media posts, St. Pierre now owns the Fall River Snack Factory on Pleasant Street in the Pilgrim Mills.

According to the Department of Justice, more than 1,069 people have been arrested nationwide for crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot. According to published reports, nearly 500 have pleaded guilty.

St. Pierre in federal bankruptcy court

Just 21 days after the Jan. 6, 2020 riot on the Capitol, St. Pierre filed in Bankruptcy Court in the District of Massachusetts.

According to court filings, the couple claim that they have liabilities totaling $369,692.

St. Pierre is scheduled to appear via video conference before a federal judge in the District of Columbia U.S. Court on Aug. 3.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: FBI arrests Swansea's Michael St. Pierre in Jan. 6 riot investigation