Georgia man went to Trump rally with his parents — then stormed the Capitol, feds say

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Hayley Fowler
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Two more men from Georgia have been charged in the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6 that left at least five people dead and sparked a second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump.

Benjamin Henry Torre was arrested Tuesday and charged with entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Torre, who lives in Dawsonville, told investigators he went to Washington, D.C., with his parents to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally and marched on the Capitol at Trump’s direction, court documents show. He reportedly entered the Capitol through a broken window and told investigators police helped him, prosecutors said.

Torre is the second man from Georgia to be arrested in recent days after 18-year-old Bruno Joseph Cua was charged with assaulting a federal officer on Feb. 6. Cua, who is from Milton, also faces charges of civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering or remaining on the floor or gallery of a House of Congress and engaging in physical violence, among other charges.

Defense attorneys representing Cua declined to comment ahead of a bond hearing Wednesday. Torre could not be reached for comment, and court filings did not list his legal representation.

Cua and Torre are the third and fourth individuals from Georgia to be charged with storming the Capitol after Michael Shane Daughtry and William McCall Calhoun Jr. were arrested in January.

Daughtry, a police officer in Pelham, was charged after a fellow police officer reported him to the FBI, McClatchy News previously reported. Calhoun, a 58-year-old attorney in Americus, was arrested at his sister’s house in Macon and is among the rioters accused of entering House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, The Macon Telegraph reported.

Benjamin Torre

The FBI was tipped off from a person in Georgia who reportedly recognized Torre in a “Be On The Lookout” bulletin, according to an arrest warrant. Investigators subsequently found a photograph on his Instagram account from Jan. 7 depicting the Lincoln Memorial. In the comments, someone reportedly asked Torre whether he stormed the Capitol.

“No and I think it was wrong that we did,” Torre wrote in response, according to an affidavit filed with the arrest warrant.

But when agents interviewed Torre with his parents at his house on Jan. 21, he said he had been in Washington, D.C., with his family and admitted to entering the Capitol during the riots.

Torre said things “got a little heated” after rioters broke a window, but police seemed “completely fine” with their presence, the affidavit states.

“Torre reported that the officers ‘helped us in the Capitol’ in that they did not shout or try to stop them from coming in the Capitol,” FBI agents said in court documents. “Torre further stated that he nodded at the officers and continued into the building.”

During the siege, videos shared on social media showed Torre in a room police identified as the Senate Spouse’s lounge, officials say. He was also reportedly seen in a second, smaller room belonging to Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon. Merkley shared a video of the damage to his office on Twitter that night.

Torre told investigators he didn’t “damage any property or engage in any violence” at the Capitol but was “caught up in the moment” and “some day could tell his grandchildren that he was there that day,” the affidavit states.

He also reportedly said the riot “was not what you see on the news” and that videos on TikTok and and Instagram made it “look really bad.”

Bruno Cua

At least two people tipped the FBI off about Cua, including a law enforcement officer who reportedly saw a picture of Cua in a Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department presentation called “Persons of Interest in Unrest-Related Offenses.”

Investigators found videos on Cua’s Instagram story in which he talks about storming the Capitol and says rioters “physically fought our way in,” according to a criminal complaint. He also appeared in a video published by The New Yorker that showed him on the floor of the U.S. Senate in a dark sweatshirt and red hat while holding a jean jacket, the complaint says.

Footage captured by CCTVI in the Capitol showed Cua holding a baton and shoving a plainclothes police officer at the door to the Senate, documents say.

Cua posted about his plans to travel to Washington, D.C., on his Parler account, prosecutors said in the complaint. He reportedly wrote “President Trump is calling us to FIGHT!” and “This isn’t a joke, this is where and when we make our stand. #January6th, Washington DC.”

Cua was arrested in the Northern District of Georgia last week. Prosecutors asked a federal judge to detain him on Monday pending trial, citing the safety of the community and a potential flight risk.

A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, court documents show.

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