The woman was reported by her former partner, who said Riley June Williams planned to send the laptop to a friend abroad so that it would reach the SVR agency. The videos show her mobilizing the assailants of the Capitol
UNITED STATES (AP) – A woman named Riley June Williams was reported by her former partner, who said she planned to send the laptop to a friend abroad to reach the SVR agency or “Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii”. The videos show her mobilizing the assailants of the Capitol.
A 22-year-old female is suspected of selling to Russian spy services a laptop computer belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, stolen during the assault on the U.S. Congress on January 6.
According to the accusation, Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania resident, was among the crowd that stormed the Capitol building.
The Washington Post reported Monday night that federal authorities had announced Williams’s arrest but offered few details.
Based on several photos and videos of the Capitol’s chaotic disturbances, an FBI agent said Williams was seen near the office of Pelosi, the Speaker of the House.
The woman was seen leading the crowd during the siege of the Capitol. A witness questioned by U.S. authorities, identified in the court document only as W1, claims to have seen other videos in which Riley Williams took a computer (or hard drive) from Pelosi’s office.
That same witness, who claimed to be “the woman’s former partner,” alleged that the woman planned to send the laptop to a friend in Russia to sell it to the foreign intelligence agency SVR.
That sale “failed for unknown reasons, and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it,” the affidavit states.
The indictment, filed Sunday night in U.S. District Court in Washington, so far only charges Riley Williams with “violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol land,” but not with theft. Consulted by AFP, the Washington federal prosecutor’s office refused to give more details immediately.
Williams’ mother, who lives with her in Harrisburg, told ITV reporters that her daughter had suddenly become interested in President Donald Trump’s policies and “right-wing extremist forums.
According to the FBI, her father, who lives in Camp Hill, told local authorities that he and his daughter went to Washington on the day of the protests but were not together and met up until after the riots to return to Harrisburg.
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed on January 8 that a laptop had been taken from a conference room but noted that “it was a laptop that was only used for presentations.
On January 6, a crowd of outgoing President Donald Trump, encouraged by him, marched to the Capitol in Washington and invaded it when Congress was supposed to certify the election victory of Democrat Joe Biden. Violent clashes took place there, and five people were killed, including a policeman, so Trump faces the second impeachment in Congress for “inciting insurrection.
More than 70 people have been indicted for those acts, according to the Justice Department.
Congress remains closed ahead of Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration as U.S. president Wednesday, an event that police say some far-right rioters are threatening to prevent.
