U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
On Thursday, the FBI announced the arrest of Zachary Martin, of Springfield, on charges of being on restricted grounds and committing unlawful activities "with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of a session of Congress."
Indeed, rioters entered the Capitol building that day as members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence were meeting to certify the results of the presidential election. According to an affidavit filed with the charges, Martin's livestream was spotted by local acquaintances and screenshotted — which would turn out to be a stroke of bad luck for the alleged rioter, as one screenshot included the distinctive portrait of Chisholm staring down at the back of Martin's head.
Along with identifying the portrait putting him at the scene, FBI agents interviewed four people who knew Martin outside of Facebook and who recognized him in the photos and livestream. One person, identified in charging documents as "W-4," told the FBI that they'd met up with Martin at a bar one week before the January 6 rally. The gathering had been organized by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters in order to purportedly "stop the steal" of a Joe Biden presidency.
"During the conversation, Martin told W-4 that he was going to travel to
Washington, D.C," the FBI noted.
Martin was arrested without incident, the FBI said in a tweet.
Today FBI & officers w/ @SGFPolice arrested Zachary Martin, of Springfield on federal charges of restricted buildings or grounds, unlawful activities on Capitol Grounds, disorderly conduct & demonstrating in the Capitol building. Martin was taken into custody without incident.
— FBI Kansas City (@FBIKansasCity) January 28, 2021
Martin appears to be the second Missouri resident arrested in connection to the Capitol riots. Last week, the FBI arrested Emily Hernandez, of Franklin, who was filmed among the crowd inside the Capitol carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's broken nameplate. Hernandez is now facing five federal charges.
Follow Danny Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected]
