Crawford County man charged for allegedly storming Capitol

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·3 min read

Mar. 27—A Crawford County man has been charged by the FBI in connection with Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Jeremy J. Vorous of Venango has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds; and obstruction of any official proceeding.

Vorous appeared late Friday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Lanzillo in Erie on the charges. Vorous was released on $10,000 unsecured bond with multiple conditions following his initial appearance before Lanzillo. Vorous has a preliminary examination/identity hearing set for Thursday via video conference before Lanzillo, according to court documents.

As part of his release, Vorous must submit to supervision by federal Pretrial Services and his travel is restricted to the Western District of Pennsylvania, except for court appearances in the District of Columbia.

Vorous also must not possess a firearm or any other weapon and submit to location monitoring technology by pretrial services as conditions of his release.

According to the 12-page affidavit filed by FBI Agent Peter Wall against Vorous, Vorous gained entry inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The FBI received two tips which included screenshots of Vorous' Facebook page where Vorous wrote "Yeah we in dis mofo" and "Bout to rush in again diff door."

Vorous' Facebook page also included photos taken of the riot, including inside the U.S. Capitol.

The affidavit said Vorous posted on Facebook a photo showing himself in the "Capitol Crypt in front of the bust of Abraham Lincoln saying 'does that look staged to you I promise the beanbags were real the mase is still burning on me aft a shower and 6hrs, the gas was real the flash grenades were also real the dead girl was 10ft from me'."

Vorous also is depicted in the photo wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt with "Not Today Liberal" in white letters and holding a red, white and blue cowboy-style hat, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, "Vorous also posted to Facebook a photo showing himself in front of a statute with the caption 'We will take what we want' which the FBI obtained from an online tip by an identified individual."

"In the photo, Vorous is depicted wearing the same clothing as in Figure One," the affidavit said. "The statute Vorous poses in front of is the statue of John Caldwell Calhoun of South Carolina, which is also located in the Crypt of the Capitol."

The affidavit said, "Vorous also posted messages on Facebook talking about the 'coordination' of the attack on the Capitol, as well as the fact that 'we took' the Capitol Building, which your affiant obtained from an anonymous online tip to the FBI."

The affidavit said the FBI reviewed a recording from the FBI's National Threat Operations Center that Vorous made to the FBI Jan. 10.

"In that recording, Vorous called to report that he was in the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021," The affidavit said. "He said he was in the building and went to the Capitol Police the next day to report himself. Vorous said that he absolutely did not participate in the rioting or take anything."

The affidavit said there were at two separate YouTube videos of Vorous being interviewed during the riot, and the FBI "was able to review footage from the Capitol that shows Vorous in the Crypt area of the U.S. Capitol building. The footage shows Vorous walking around inside the Capitol."

In addition, the affidavit said footage showed Vorous entering the U.S. Capitol building.

Also, the FBI said it "learned from separate sources that at the time of his (Vorous') entry, loud audible alarms were going off in the area and the windows adjacent to point of entry were broken out."

Vorous' case will be transferred to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for prosecution, according to Margaret Philbin, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Pennsylvania.

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

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