A woman identified as having taken part in the storming of the US Capitol is accused of stealing a laptop belonging to top Democrat Nancy Pelosi which she hoped to sell to a Russian spy agency, according to the FBI.
There is no indication Riley June Williams, a 22-year-old careworker from Pennsylvania, took a laptop from Ms Pelosi’s office. The FBI, which is working off a tip, said in the court record the “matter remains under investigation.”
The complaint, filed late Sunday in US District Court in Washington, sought the arrest of Williams on grounds including “violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”
Relying on several photos and videos of the chaotic January 6 riot, an FBI agent said Williams was seen near the office of Ms Pelosi, US House Speaker.
A witness, identified in the court document only as W1 but who claimed to be “the former romantic partner of Riley June Williams,” alleged that Williams planned to send the laptop to a friend in Russia to sell it to the SVR foreign intelligence agency.
That sale “fell through for unknown reasons, and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it,” the affidavit says.
Several videos show the woman believed to be Williams actively directing fellow rioters, urging them “Go! Go! Up the stairs.”
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The complaint says Williams’ mother in the city of Harrisburg was shown pictures taken in the Capitol and confirmed a slender, bespectacled brown-haired woman in several pictures was her.
Wendy Willians said her daughter had “taken a sudden interest in President Trump’s politics.”
Williams had travelled to Washington with her father, though the two were separated during the chaos that day.
The complaint says that after Williams returned home, she packed a bag and told her mother she was leaving “for a couple of weeks.”
“It appears that Williams has fled,” the complaint says.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")