The case of Eric R. Staples: Read what typical charges look like against Jan. 6 election protesters

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The criminal complaint against a man currently living in Girdwood, Alaska is an example of the Department of Justice’s efforts to round up and bring to justice anyone who entered the U.S. Capitol during the election protests of Jan. 6, 2021. Over 1,000 arrests have been made associated with the breach of the Capitol after a rally held by then-President Donald Trump.

The protest came as the U.S. Senate was preparing to certify the 2020 presidential election, which many to this day believe was riddled with fraud.

The complaint says that Eric Richard Staples, formerly a resident of Wyoming, broke federal laws:

18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1)- Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority
18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(2) -Disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds

40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(D) – Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Capitol Building
40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(G) – Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building

The complaint says:

“Beginning in January 2021, the FBI received a number of public tips regarding the possible involvement of Richard Eric Staples, Jr., (“STAPLES”) in the January 6th riot. On October 6, 2021, FBI Special Agent Michael A. Miedona interviewed one tipster who attended high school with STAPLES. The tipster indicated that STAPLES prefers to be called “Eric,” rather than “Richard.”

“The tipster reported that they had seen various Facebook posts concerning STAPLES’s travel to Washington, D.C., and his activities on January 6, 2021. These included posts to STAPLES’s own Facebook page and posts by an individual who has since been charged with criminal offenses arising out of his activities at the Capitol on January 6th (“Defendant 1”) in which STAPLES was tagged.2 The tipster provided screenshots of the posts.

“For example, the tipster provided a screenshot of a post by Staples on January 5, 2021, that he was ‘on [his] way to the snake pit of Washington DC.'”

“The tipster also provided a post from Defendant 1 in which STAPLES was tagged. The tipster identified STAPLES in a picture within the post, which showed Defendant 1 and STAPLES standing together with the U.S. Capitol in the background. A reproduction of this image that has been cropped to show STAPLES is provided below.”

A man described as Eric Staples poses in front of the U.S. Capitol.

“The tipster also provided a post by STAPLES three hours after Defendant 1’s post, in which STAPLES stated ‘It is the peoples house, not Chinas.’”

According to an image captured by Capitol’s closed-circuit TV, Staples entered the Capitol through a broken window, and only stayed a brief period of time before leaving. The time recorded by the camera was one minute and 24 seconds, just long enough to snap a few photos.

On Dec. 1 Staples was interviewed by federal investigators at the FBI’s Cheyenne, Wyoming office. Staples had an attorney with him, and admitted to entering the U.S. Capitol through a window. He said that in the photo where he was holding up four fingers, he was indicating “four more years” for President Trump.

A slide show of the final four pages of the complaint is below:

Staples, after Jan. 6, 2021, attempted to erase his social media history and he moved to Alaska, but he has known he was facing arrest since 2021, as he was interviewed by the FBI that year. The arrest came on Thursday.

The warrant for Staples shows what the Jan. 6 arrest warrants look like:

Aaron Mileur of Wasilla pleaded guilty in December of 2022 and received two years of probation. His is typical of plea agreement with Jan. 6 defendants:

A Florida man, Christian Manley, arrested for similar charges while in Anchorage, pleaded guilty on Dec. 7, 2022, and was sentenced to four years of prison, and three years of probation. All of his charges and photos of him are at this link.

16 COMMENTS

  1. What a joke it all is. Is this communist America?? Waste of time. You notice the thugs that burned down minneapolis, Portland, etc are not being pursued at all. How about the coward cop that blasted an unarmed American veteran in that capital and killed her. After trump gets re elected he will release 9/10s of them.

  2. This overtly political weaponization of a rogue and out-of-control (so-called) “justice” and (so-called) “intelligence” system must come to an end, NOW! It smacks of the worst of the sort of vindictive suppression and persecution of political opposition that is typically seen in third-world banana republics.

    Who says that we do not imprison the political opposition in the Disunited States of America?
    It is being done right now!

    • What Grandpa Bloodstains and his FBI are up to is insulting to banana republics.

      They, at least, don’t pretend to be following any law.

      If Trump manages to get elected, hopefully he will give the DOJ a complete and total enema.

      Hopefully, but I’m not counting on it.

  3. “Bringing to ‘Justice’ “ is a misnomer as there is little actual justice involved. It is political and another leftist tool.

  4. The sad thing? If it had been a bunch of progressives protesting Trump, no charges filed.

    Probably bought pizza by Pelosi.

  5. American history timeline reveals how these foreign corporation subcontractors took over Washington DC. It’s not “our government”. It’s a foreign enclave and no one can be charged with insurrection against a corporation that goes bankrupt every so often and leaves us with its debts. The actual government of, for and by the people has no bankruptcy protection. There were several Reconstruction Acts but they were all dealing with subcontractors, not the actual unincorporated government which was never properly reconstructed after the Civil War.

  6. The treatment of the January 6 protesters is an exercise in brutality and abuse of the justice system.

    • The justice system has completely failed. They have weponized the local police over the last 20 years. And to think all we needed was good judges that upheld the laws of the land and we wouldn’t be where we are.

  7. So in November, when Biden miraculously wins again, you know what’s in store for you if you so much as spit on the sidewalk. Don’t question authority or zuckersorosbucks.

    • I pray that you’re wrong, but I am very afraid that your comment is right🤮. I don’t see how we are going to stop them from cheating even worse than they did last time.

  8. “the Department of Justice’s efforts to round up and bring to justice anyone who entered the U.S. Capitol”
    Bring to justice? Political persecution and violation of civil rights is now called “bringing to justice”?
    Good heavens, Suzanne, please re-think this.

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