A Missouri man arrested Thursday in connection with the riot in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was observed livestreaming himself in the building on Facebook, according to charging documents.
A criminal complaint filed on Jan. 21 in federal court in Washington, D.C., charges Zachary Hayes Martin with accessing restricted buildings or grounds, unlawful activities on Capitol grounds, disorderly conduct and demonstrating in the Capitol building.
The FBI said in a brief statement Thursday that Martin had been taken into custody without incident in Springfield, Missouri.
A probable cause affidavit filed by an unidentified FBI agent in support of the criminal complaint cited five witnesses as saying they observed Martin livestreaming a video of himself in the Capitol building on Jan. 6. The Facebook account is no longer available, and the affidavit said that Martin’s Facebook account “was likely closed” after Jan. 6.
Some of the witnesses, however, took screenshots of Martin’s livestream video. The FBI said it was able to match up his driver’s license photograph with the person shown in the screenshots.
In some of the screenshots, Martin is shown standing in front of a painting. The FBI said it determined through a Google search that the painting, which depicts former U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, is located in the Capitol building.
The affidavit said the FBI became aware of Martin’s alleged involvement in the Capitol riot after a witness, identified only as W-1, “stated that he/she had observed public posts on Facebook indicating that Martin was present at the U.S. Capitol during the riots and had ‘livestreamed’ a video of himself in the U.S. Capitol building on Facebook.”
Four other witnesses said they had watched at least some of the livestreamed video, according to the affidavit. A witness identified as W-4 said they had spoken to Martin in a Springfield bar in the week leading up to Jan. 6 and that Martin told them he was planning to travel to Washington.
It's not clear if Martin is represented by an attorney. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.
USA Today reports that 162 people have been charged so far in connection with the Capitol riot, which left five people, including a member of the Capitol Police, dead.
Missouri court records show Martin, a resident of Rogersville, Missouri, sought a divorce in September from his wife, whom he married in August 2002. They have three minor children.
