Bucks County man arrested for alleged role in Capitol Riot on Jan. 6
This photo is from an FBI affidavit.
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. - A man from Lower Bucks County was arrested Friday in connection with the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Leonard Pearso Ridge IV was charged by federal prosecutors with obstructing an official proceeding, entering a restricted building and grounds, and disorderly conduct.
Federal agents made their case against Ridge by using social media communications and videos that were captured in charging documents.
In total, Ridge shared at least five videos from the Capitol Riot attack, which the FBI then used to track him down.
The investigation started after a friend brought Ridge’s Snapchat videos to the attention of special agents from the FBI.
A federal agent subpoenaed the records in order to build his case against Ridge.
In one Snapchat post, Ridge reportedly said that they were "currently making history" by being inside the Rotunda.
Several different Snapchat videos reportedly posted by Ridge show the events from moments of tear gassing to people walking up a staircase inside the Capitol.
Witnesses interviewed identified Ridge from different surveillance photos shared by the FBI during routine interviews.
In records obtained from Snapchat, Ridge declared that "The election was completely stolen" and that "something big will happen in this nation very soon".
In the charging documents, the arresting officer makes it clear that Ridge reportedly violated several different clauses including knowingly enter or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to engage in disorderly conduct as well as knowingly utter loud, threatening, or abusive language, or engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct, at any place in the Grounds or in any of the Capitol Buildings.
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