Following their arrest earlier this week, three Marines who are now on active service have been criminally charged for their involvement in the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021.
Court documents say that fellow Marines helped identify Micah Coomer, Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen in footage filmed as a group of protesters entered the Capitol, the Associated Press reported.
The Marine Corps is aware of the allegations, according to Maj. Kevin Stephensen, a spokesman for the branch, and “is fully collaborating with proper authorities in support of the inquiry.”
According to the authorities, the three males were inside the facility for roughly 52 minutes, according to AP. Authorities claim that Hellonen placed a “Make America Great Again” hat on a statue in the rotunda and took selfies with it while also carrying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
According to the AP, they are accused of unruly behaviour and illegal entrance. Though several others have a military history, they are among the first active-duty Jan. 6 defendants.
According to the AP, Hellonen is from Michigan and is stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, while Abate is from Virginia and is stationed at Fort Meade. Coomer is from Indiana and is based at Camp Pendleton in California.
Abate was assigned to the Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, which collaborates with the National Security Agency, according to the Pentagon. Investigators claim that Abate previously acknowledged going inside the Capitol on January 6 during a security clearance examination.
A NSA official refused to say when the organization discovered that admission or what it did with the knowledge.
Later in January 2021, after the storming, Coomer texted a person that “everything in this country is corrupt,” according to court documents.
“We honestly need a fresh restart. I’m waiting for the boogaloo,” Coomer wrote. The person asked him what “boogaloo” meant and he responded, “Civil war 2,” according to authorities.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
American Military News Rephrased By: InfoArmed