An actor featured in the DailyWire+ comedy “Lady Ballers” was arrested following the premiere in Nashville last week for charges related to his presence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Federal authorities arrested Siaka Massaquoi on November 30 after he and his wife, Charlotte, arrived back in California following the showing, according to a legal defense fundraiser set up in his name.
“Upon their arrival, Siaka was separated from his wife and abruptly arrested by the FBI,” according to the fundraising page. “At the time, Charlotte was told the charges had to do with January 6th; however, she was not presented with any arrest warrant.”
Massaquoi, who appeared in the new comedy from The Daily Wire, was taken to the Monterey Park Jail, where he stayed overnight after being charged with four misdemeanors in connection to January 6, according to the fundraiser page.
Three years ago, approximately 20 FBI agents dressed in tactical gear raided Massaquoi’s North Hollywood home just before 6 a.m. on a Thursday — about six months after that infamous day in 2021, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Video footage from the Capitol breach posted by StopHate, a Texas-based activist group, claims to show Massaquoi inside the Capitol building.
“He was at the threshold of the door for maybe a minute, & even helping the police direct the flow of foot traffic out the door. Crime?” the group wrote in a December 2 post.
Massaquoi reposted the group’s video on his X account. “Witness why I was raided 2 years ago and recently arrested and charged Nov 30th 2023 almost 3 years later,” he said.
Witness why I was raided 2 years ago and recently arrested and charged Nov 30th 2023 almost 3 years later https://t.co/0YH97WqftF
— Siaka Massaquoi (@_SiakaMassaquoi) December 2, 2023
Massaquoi also starred in The Babylon Bee’s “Californians Move to Texas” series. Seth Dillon, CEO of the satire website, called Massaquoi’s arrest “political persecution.”
“If you’ve watched our Californians Move to Texas series, then you’re already familiar with Siaka. You know how funny and talented he is,” Dillon wrote in an X-post. “But he isn’t just a talented actor and friend of the Babylon Bee; he also happens to be a Trump supporter. And he’s being punished for it by our government.”
In a Monday post, Dillon posted the arrest warrant presented to Massaquoi, revealing charges including knowingly entering a restricted building, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.
Here's the arrest warrant containing the charges brought against @_SiakaMassaquoi.
He has a hearing scheduled for this Thursday morning (10 am) at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/Z0wlUs83Fl
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) December 5, 2023
Although authorities never charged Massaquoi, the fundraiser’s page said that the family has “feared that this day might come, in which the government would charge him for something he didn’t do,” adding the actor has been “scrutinized at airports for several years.”
The fundraiser for Massaquoi has raised nearly $40,000 of its $115,000 goal to cover the legal expenses. The campaign page also requested to keep the family in prayer support as the couple is expecting their first child.
According to podcast host Lori Mills, authorities arraigned Massaquoi on Friday and released him with conditions.
“This judge was fair. Preliminary trial next week,” she wrote in an X-post. “We are praying it gets thrown out as DC wants the case.”
Yes. He was arraigned yesterday and released with conditions. This judge was fair. Preliminary trial next week. We are praying it gets thrown out as DC wants the case. There is a go fund me. We were all there and stood with him. Love him and Char so much. His Jesus Saves… pic.twitter.com/gBhK3RUoM3
— Lori Mills (@LoriMills4CA42) December 2, 2023
Massaquoi — an actor who has landed parts in shows like “S.W.A.T,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” and “Lethal Weapon” — also appeared as Duece Johnson in The Daily Wire’s first-ever feature-length comedy “Lady Ballers.”
The film’s director and co-founder of The Daily Wire, Jeremy Boreing, spoke out in defense of Massaquoi.
“Siaka is a good man and a huge talent,” Boreing said in an X-post. “The FBI arresting a man at the airport three years after the event – and after raiding his house and not charging him already – and then only charging him with misdemeanors is one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard.”
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Federal authorities arrested Massaquoi more than two months after he filed a group lawsuit against the FBI, Bureau Director Christopher Wray, the Department of Justice, and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
According to the lawsuit filed in a district court in Florida on September 20, the plaintiffs requested the court to certify the legal challenge as a class action lawsuit on behalf of individuals “who were peacefully protesting in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, but who did not commit any felonies or engage in any violence, but have been subjected to unconstitutional, illegal surveillance by Defendant Wray and his agents in the aftermath.”
“While there were a few people who chose to enter and engage in acts of violence in the U.S. Capitol, Plaintiffs were not among those involved in any such conduct,” the lawsuit said. “All Plaintiffs did was exercise their right to peacefully assemble and protest under the Constitution.”
The Department of Justice has reportedly charged more than 1,069 individuals from nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia in connection to January 6.
A spokesperson with the FBI declined to comment when contacted by The Daily Wire.