Retired Secret Service agent says Biden inauguration’s heightened security is to prevent ‘underestimating’ risk
Retired Secret Service agent Jeff James reacts to the National Guard being deployed to Washington D.C. ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump who had vowed to return to Washington after last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk has been arrested Sunday by the FBI.
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Otero County Commission Chairman and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin rides his horse on 5th avenue on May 1, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
According to court documents, Griffin told investigators that he was "caught up" in the crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but he said he did not enter the building and instead remained on the U.S. Capitol steps.
WHO'S ATTENDING BIDEN'S INAUGURATION?
A video posted to Griffin's personal Facebook page shows Griffin in the restricted areas, according to the affidavit.
FILE - In this March 12, 2019, file photo, Cowboys for Trump leader and Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, center, talks with Republican New Mexico state Rep. Candy Ezzell of Roswell, N.M., at a protest against gun control and pro-abortion rights legislation outside the New Mexico State Capitol, in Santa Fe, N.M. A New Mexico county official who runs a group called "Cowboys for Trump" who had vowed to return to Washington after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk was arrested by the FBI on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File)
Griffin did not immediately respond to phone or text messages seeking comment.
INAUGURATION DAY 2021: WASHINGTON'S SECURITY PREPS IN HIGH GEAR
On Thursday, Griffin, said he planned to travel with firearms to Washington, D.C., for Biden’s inauguration.
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2020, file photo, County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county official who runs a group called "Cowboys for Trump," vowed to return to Washington after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk was arrested by the FBI on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File)
"I’m gonna be there on Jan. 20 ... and I’m gonna take a stand for our country and for our freedoms," Griffin said during a meeting of the Otero County Board of Commissioners.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"I’m gonna leave either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a .357 Henry Big Boy rifle lever action that I’ve got in the trunk of my car and I’ve got a .357 single action revolver, the Colt Ruger Vaquero that I’ll have underneath the front seat on my right side and I will embrace my Second Amendment," he said.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
