Posterity photos uploaded on social media seemed enough for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to file a string of criminal charges against a family of five from Texas who took part in a raucous at the United States Capitol on January 6 this year.
Except for a child dragged to the Capitol Building, charged for illegal entry to a restricted government area is the entire Munn family – Kristi, Thomas, Dawn, Joshua, and Kayli.
Likewise slapped against them include disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted area, disorderly conduct, and picketing at the Capitol building.
In filing the case against the Munn family members, the Federal Prosecutors submitted to the court social media posts and messages, photos uploaded on various digital platforms. The FBI also provided images from security video, which showed the family forming part of a mob inside the Capitol building.
According to the FBI, the family travelled from Borger, Texas, to Washington, D.C. to join the mob.
The FBI added that part of the evidence also includes Kristi Munn’s personal admission of entering the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, along with her family. Likewise deemed essential is the information provided by a tipster who sent two screenshots of Kristi Munn’s Facebook account and six screenshots of her Snapchat account.
Interestingly, the tipster turned out to be a relative of Kristi Munn’s fiancé.
“The tipster has personally met Kristi Munn and spent time with her during the 2020 Christmas holiday season, which was less than a month before January 6, 2021,” an FBI investigator stated.
The Facebook screenshots provided by the tipster even had a hashtag that reads: #StopTheSteal #TrumpIsMyPresident, and a photo of Kristi and other members of the Munn family. The FBI was also able to secure a conversation between Kelsi and Dawn. Part of their conversation reads: “We went in and stormed capital! We were in capital!! … I do mean IN the building!!” and “We stormed in….went in and out the broken window!!”
Tom Munn also had his share of social media posts, which reads: “Made it back to the hotel about an hour ago… Have lots of pics and video to follow… The DC police opened up on a small group climbing the scaffolding with gas grenades… The only damage to the capital building was several windows and sets of doors. Nothing inside the capital was damaged. I can tell you; patriots NEVER made it to the chamber. There was no violence in the capitol building; the crowd was NOT out of.”
The FBI also claimed to have checked on the social media posts of other members of the Munn family from where they found supplemental evidence against the Texas-based Munn family.
Six months after the US Capitol riot, over 535 individuals have so far been arrested and charged in court, leaving them with just around 300 individuals, including those who reportedly assaulted police officers, to track down.
