Read FBI affidavits that outline Sacramento-area residents’ alleged role in Capitol siege

The California Republican activist arrested in Sacramento Tuesday in connection with the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol has been charged in federal court with obstructing an official proceeding, illegally entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct at the Capitol when he allegedly entered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Jorge Aaron Riley, who was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, was named in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.

An FBI affidavit first posted by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, which is collecting court documents in each case related to the siege, outlines evidence about Riley’s alleged participation, including selfie photos from the siege, social media posts and a Reddit.com video of him describing breaking into the Capitol.

“From January 6 through at least January 8, 2021, Riley posted over 150 messages, photographs and videos on his public Facebook account, detailing his actions in Washington, D.C., on January 6,” the FBI’s “statement of facts” says. “In one message on the morning of January 6, Riley posted, in part, ‘I’m here to see what my President called me to DC for. Hello from Sacramento!!!’

“Riley then posted a series of videos showing that he was in fact in Washington, D.C., attending a rally where he recorded various speakers. Along with one of those videos, Riley included the message, ‘Today at noon, the Election is being challenged!!!’”

Later, Riley posted a video “of a large number of people walking toward what appears to be the Capitol building along with the message, ‘There’s 100’s of thousands of people marching on the Nation’s Capitol!!!’

“Approximately thirty minutes later, RILEY posted, ‘Hey We’re storming the Capitol…. What are you doing?’”

The affidavit also includes descriptions from the video posted on Reddit.com and elsewhere in which Riley appears to be interviewed after leaving the building.

“In relevant part, Riley states, ‘We breached over there I think. We broke windows, we went into the door, we pushed our way in, and then we just kept going further and further. … We went into, there was like a corridor building.’

“Riley continued, ‘We pushed our way to Nancy Pelosi’s office … and then we were sitting in there yelling ‘f--- you, Nancy Pelosi.’ At this point, Riley flashes both of his middle fingers to the screen as if to reenact what he had done while yelling in the Capitol.”

Riley, 41, remained in custody at the Sacramento jail early Wednesday and is ineligible for bail. He was corresponding secretary of the California Republican Assembly, as well as president of its Sacramento chapter, until he was asked to resign last week.

The affidavit said there is probable cause to believe Riley entered a restricted area without permission, intended to disrupt government business and engaged in disorderly conduct.

Colusa County woman told to stay away from Capitol

Riley is the second Sacramento-area individual charged in connection with the Capitol siege.

On Tuesday, Valerie Elaine Ehrke, a home designer from Arbuckle, made her initial Zoom court appearance in federal court in Sacramento on misdemeanor counts of entering a restricted building without lawful authority, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and demonstrating in the Capitol.

Ehrke was ordered not to return to Washington, D.C., unless it is for court appearances, and was told to stay away from California’s Capitol building Wednesday during Joe Biden’s inauguration as president.

A massive contingent of California National Guard troops, California Highway Patrol officers and other law enforcement have secured downtown Sacramento because of warnings of armed attacks on state Capitols.

Authorities were also concerned about the possibility of confrontations between supporters of former President Donald Trump and counter-protesters, including antifa activists.

There have been no major incidents at the Capitol since scuffles at a rally Jan. 6.

This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 8:14 AM.