FBI arrests Vero-area couple on charges related to Jan. 6 riots at U.S. Capitol
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
A Vero Beach-area couple were captured in surveillance and law enforcement body camera footage hitting, pushing and yelling obscenities at police officers attempting to clear crowds from the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 6, 2021, according to charges filed Thursday by federal prosecutors.
The arrest of Andrew Joshua Johnson, 39, and Whitney Johnson, 44, by FBI agents was announced in a press release from the U.S. Justice Department on Friday evening.
Citing allegations in court documents, federal prosecutors stated both attended former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally, marched to the Capitol and entered the Rotunda doors at roughly 2:45 p.m.
According to prosecutors: "Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election."
The couple split up as they walked through the Capitol and prosecutors said footage shows Andrew Johnson "confronting a United States Capitol Police Officer on the gallery stairs."
At just before 3 p.m., Andrew Johnson allegedly entered an office belonging to then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, according to a 16-page Feb. 16 FBI complaint filed with the arrest warrant. He later returned to the Rotunda lobby the same way he had come., the report said.
Roughly 30 minutes after entering the building, the release stated, Andrew Johnson was seen in a crowd yelling and shaking his fist at police, and Whitney Johnson was seen against an outer Rotunda wall.
More: Vero Beach man describes mayhem in Washington, D.C.: 'A Daytona Nascar race times 10'
A confrontation between an officer and a rioter erupted, in which Andrew Johnson was recorded yelling an expletive and calling out "Oathbreaker" while "aggressively positioning" himself close to police as the officers pushed him outside.
Around the same time, Whitney was shown in surveillance footage hitting a Metropolitan Police Department officer with an open hand and yelling expletives as officers cleared the building.
The two were seen using their cellphones numerous times, the complaint said.
Officers eventually removed Andrew Johnson from the building around 3:20 p.m., while Whitney Johnson left on her own minutes earlier, prosecutors said. Whitney Johnson faces both felony and misdemeanor charges, including:
Civil disorder
Assaulting, resisting or impeding officers
Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds
Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
Engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds
Disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol building or grounds
Parading demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building or grounds
Andrew Johnson was charged with various misdemeanors including:
Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds
Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
Entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building
Disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol building or grounds
Parading demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building or grounds
Details, such as the location of their arrest were not mentioned in the release, but county property records show the couple shared ownership of a home in the 100 block of East Forest Trail since at least 2022.
The Johnsons were identified as participants from a tipster who contacted the FBI around June 28, according to the FBI complaint. A search warrant served on Google identified the Johnsons' mobile devices and email addresses. Through Google, the FBI was able to track the Johnsons' estimated movements using GPS data, Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth beacons, the report said.
Andrew Johnson wore a "red Trump baseball cap over a white beanie with black strips around the bottom, a black long-sleeved hooded zip-up jacket, a black and white gator-style facemask, black-framed eye glasses and a black backpack with distinctive firearms-related patches," the report said.
He carried white zip ties in his hands and a handheld radio on his chest, the report said. Whitney Johnson wore a dark-colored jacket with a hood, a red Trump cap underneath the hood, dark pants and white tennis shoes, along with an American flag scarf wrapped around her neck, the report said.
The FBI used public records to identify the Johnsons' Vero Beach address. On Oct. 11, law enforcement — which included a lieutenant with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office — visited the Johnsons as they were leaving the driveway in a work vehicle for their business, A1A Technologies & Electric. Whitney Johnson, who was in the passenger seat, gave the lieutenant her business card with contact information. Video from the Jan. 6 Capital footage matched the Johnsons' appearance, the report said.
Both made appearances Thursday at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, court records show.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard ordered the Johnsons to each post a bond of $250,000. Both stated they would hire their own attorney, but it was unclear Friday if they were being represented by legal counsel.
The couple joins what prosecutors said were nearly 470 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement and are among 1,313 people to receive charges for the breach of the U.S. Capitol breach in the three years following the January 6, 2021, Trump administration efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
FBI Miami and Washington field offices led the investigation, with assistance from U.S. Capitol and Metropolitan police.
The Justice Department National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section and U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case, and were assisted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The Department of Justice release requested anyone with information related to the ongoing investigation to call the FBI at 800-225-5324, or go to tips.fbi.gov.
More: Judge tosses charges related to 2012 'pill mill' raids in Operation Pill Street Blues
More: An Indian River School Board member resigned Wednesday. On Thursday he tried to rescind it
More: Investigation of fatal shooting at Indian River County golf club outlined in report
Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow @coreyarwood on X, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: FBI arrests Vero Beach-area man, woman on charges in Jan. 6 riots
