Californian brothers ‘involved in Capitol riot’ arrested after tip from Finland

Finnish news report sent to FBI leading to arrest of California brothers who were members of pro-Trump mob

Two California brothers were arrested for being part of the pro-Trump mob that ransacked the Capitol on 6 January after an anonymous tipster from Finland reported a video on the website of Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat to the FBI.

In the video, 33-year-old Kevin Cordon can be seen speaking to Finnish correspondent Mikko Marttinen outside the Capitol with a bloody forehead, wearing a ballistics vest and draped in an American flag.

Mr Cordon can be seen saying in the video that "there were people scuffling with the cops, and that’s when I got hit with a projectile, not sure what it was. And then from there, we proceeded into the broken windows and into the Capitol building. We were walking around the hallways, and the Trump supporters were all going nuts".

His older brother Sean Carlo Corden, 35, can be seen in the background of the video, which was sent to the FBI by a Finnish reader the day after the riot.

The two brothers were arrested Tuesday and charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and other crimes, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Mr Cordon told Ilta-Sanomat: “It’s clear that this election is stolen, there’s just so much overwhelming evidence, and the establishment, the media, big tech are just completely ignoring all of it, and we’re here to show them we’re not having it. We’re not just going to take this laying down.”

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There's nothing that indicates that what Mr Cordon said is true, in fact, The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement on 12 November 2020: "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history."

FBI Agent Shane Anderson wrote in a criminal complaint unveiled Tuesday that weeks of research after the initial tip from Finland led to the arrest of the brothers after it became clear that the video matched the photos on their driver licenses.

Mr Anderson said that surveillance footage shows the brothers outside the Capitol building near a group of police officers and then shows them climbing through a window around ten minutes later.

Cameras inside the building provided footage of the brothers walking through the crypt underneath the Rotunda and then again outside the building as Mr Cordon can be seen speaking to the Finnish reporter. He was seen calling someone on his phone around 3 pm which was then matched with records showing a call to an individual who shares his California home.

Flight records and airport footage also shows the brothers flying into DC from California on 5 January and back home on 7 January.

Sean Carlo Cordon's Twitter feed indicates that he looked up to Mr Trump and that he believed his lies about the election being stolen, the LA Times reported.

The brothers were arrested at their homes around 6 am and their residences were searched, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

They were ordered released on $50,000 bonds during their first appearance in court in LA. Their locations will be surveilled as they wait for their trials and they were ordered to give up any guns.