A woman accused of stealing a laptop or hard drive from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office during the riot on Capitol Hill was arrested late Monday, but the device is still missing, according to reports.
Riley June Williams was arrested on Monday after she surrendered herself to law enforcement officials, according to The Associated Press.
The FBI released a document late Sunday saying they were pursuing Williams after a “former romantic partner” called the agency’s tipline to report that they recognized Williams from social media footage of the Capitol attack and that they believed Williams had stolen a device from Pelosi’s office, which she planned to sell to the Russians through a contact.
The source told the FBI that Williams’ plans had fallen through and that she was possibly planning to destroy the device.
As The Daily Wire reported Monday, “[Witness 1] stated that WILLIAMS intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service,” the FBI’s affidavit notes. “According to [Witness 1], the transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons and WILLIAMS still has the computer device or destroyed it.”
Buzzfeed, which has still images from a video from the Capitol attack that was posted to social media, pinpointed a woman who matches Williams’ description. She is seen wearing a brown coat and green sweater and is carrying a zebra-print tote bag. In the video, she is “reportedly physically directing crowds toward a staircase,” while yelling “‘upstairs, upstairs, upstairs.’” The stairway, the FBI says, leads up to Pelosi’s office.
“Williams’ mother told local law enforcement that her daughter packed a bag and left before she was arrested, saying she would be gone for a couple of weeks,” The Associated Press noted. “She also changed her phone number and deleted a number of social media accounts, the FBI said. Court documents don’t list an attorney for her.”
“Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed Jan. 8 that a laptop was taken from a conference room but said ‘it was a laptop that was only used for presentations,'” the AP reported.
Business Insider notes that “Williams has been charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct in relation to the Capitol riot, but not with theft” and that FBI officials say Williams remains under investigation because the laptop is still missing.
Williams is now one of more than 100 people arrested in connection with the Capitol riots, according to The Hill. The incident left five people dead and dozens injured and gave rise to a massive security presence throughout Washington, D.C., for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, set to take place tomorrow.
A number of those arrested in connection with the riots were pictured in Pelosi’s office. Although Williams is the only one so far alleged to have taken something from the Speaker’s chambers, at least two others, seen on video taking part in a siege of Pelosi’s space, have been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.