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Man charged with joining the Capitol riot after the FBI saw his wife's Facebook posts bragging about it

A composite of images used in the FBI filings. They show a family photo of Lynn and Gary Edwards, and a still from a social media post which appears to show Gary Edwards in the Capitol building. He is circled by the FBI in both images.
Images in an FBI filing depict a man believed to be Gary Edwards, circled. Facebook/Lynn Feiler Edwards/DOJ/Insider

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A man was charged with joining the Capitol riot after his wife posted on Facebook talking about his involvement, court documents say.

A Department of Justice filing released Wednesday said the FBI had gotten a tip about a Facebook page with the name Lynn Feiler Edwards that included posts about the actions of her husband, Gary Edwards, on January 6.

Hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump broke into the Capitol that day, causing lawmakers to go into hiding and leading to the fatal shooting of Ashley Babbitt.

Gary Edwards was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the riot. He was charged with entering and disorderly conduct in a restricted building, disruption of official business, and other charges.

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The Facebook posts have been deleted, the filing said. But it said that one began: "Okay ladies let me tell you what happened as my husband was there inside the Capitol Rotunda."

The filing said officials had matched photos of Edwards from the Facebook page to his driver's license and used these to identify him in footage and social-media posts from the Capitol.

The filing said that in one video posted on DLive, a video-streaming service, Edwards appeared to be in a Capitol office wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat.

A social media video still from the FBI filing showing people inside a Capitol office, with the man believed to be Gary Edwards circled.
A still from a video in the filing shows a man believed to be Edwards with a "Make America Great Again" hat. DOJ

It said a post on Instagram captioned "Scenes from inside the #uscapitolbuilding" also appeared to show Edwards.

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A social media screenshot from the FBI filing showing people inside the Capitol, with the man believed to be Gary Edwards circled.
Another image in the filing is said to show Edwards. DOJ

Several stills from security footage also appeared to show Edwards among the crowd in the building, the filing said.

A security footage still from the FBI filing showing a group people inside the Capitol. The man who the FBI believe is Gary Edwards is circled.
A man the FBI identified as Edwards is circled in this security-footage still from the filing. DOJ

The filing said one of the Facebook posts described a group of young men in military clothing yelling "we r going in!" and going on to break a barricade and smash a window.

"They broke some furniture," the post said, according to the filing. "Then proceeded to storm the floors." It was unclear from the description whether Edwards, a grandfather, had joined the younger men.

A security footage still from the FBI filing showing a group people inside the Capitol. The man who the FBI believe is Gary Edwards is circled.
Another photo said to show Edwards, circled. DOJ

"Gary walked around the back of the building and climbed the stairs walking right into the rotunda," the post said. "He stood there and heard and saw teargas blasts."

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A security footage still from the FBI filing showing a group people inside the Capitol. The man who the FBI believe is Gary Edwards is circled.
The man in another photo from security footage. DOJ

Another post included in the filing said that "Gary walked around carrying flags of the Us" and "walked right through the door into the rotunda."

A security footage still from the FBI filing showing a group people inside the Capitol. The man who the FBI believe is Gary Edwards is circled.
Edwards has been charged with joining the riot at the Capitol on January 6. DOJ

The Facebook post suggested that Lynn Edwards believed the false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from Trump; the post said people were not "given the opportunity to be able to have evidence shown."

capitol riot FBI Donald Trump
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