Rebekah WahlbergA Utah man accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was charged Monday with three additional crimes in federal court in Washington, D.C.
John Sullivan was charged last month with civil disorder, being in a restricted area and disorderly conduct. In addition to those charges, court documents show a grand jury indicted Sullivan on Monday with obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and demonstrating in a Capitol building.
Sullivan previously told The Salt Lake Tribune he was at the Capitol that day to observe and “watch history.”
On Jan. 6, Sullivan entered the U.S. Capitol through a broken window wearing a ballistic vest and a gas mask, according to a January affidavit from the Department of Justice. At one point during the riot, he was part of a crowd trying to push their way into a room guarded by police officers, according to the affidavit, and yelled that he had a knife.
In video footage that he shot during the riot, Sullivan can be heard yelling, “We accomplished this s--t. We did this together,” according to court documents. In a YouTube video, Sullivan said he was trying to fit in for his own safety.
Sullivan is the founder of Insurgence USA, a Utah group focused on police reform and racial justice, though a judge has ordered that Sullivan can’t do any work for the organization right now.
He is also facing unrelated charges of rioting and criminal mischief after he allegedly organized a June 30 protest in Provo where a truck driver was shot.
After being raised in California and spending a year in Arizona, Utah is the latest stop on Rebekah's tour of the Great American West. Everywhere she goes, she lugs along a pile of DVDs, more books than sense and an abiding love for storytelling in every imaginable media.