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Capitol riot suspect and his family found hiding in Nevada mountains with ‘camouflaged sedan’

Josiah Kenyon was arrested on 1 December on multiple charges relating to the Capitol Hill riots

Sravasti Dasgupta
Friday 10 December 2021 14:57 GMT
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File: Capitol Hill rioters taser and beat officer to ground

A Capitol riots suspect has been found hiding with his family in a trailer in the mountains of Nevada and subsequently arrested on multiple charges, authorities said.

Josiah Kenyon, 34, of Winnemucca, Nevada, who was arrested on 1 December, is accused of attacking law enforcement officials with dangerous weapons and other crimes on 6 January when former president Donald Trump’s supporters stormed Capitol Hill against president Joe Biden’s victory.

Authorities said that Mr Kenyon’s whereabouts were unknown, reported KOLOTV.

Two Washoe County Sheriffs deputies found a woman and two children living in a small, unheated trailer near the Peavine Mountain. When the officials offered her help, she remained evasive and refused to give her or her husband’s names.

While they were talking, the woman’s husband drove up and said that the family would be moving from the area.

The deputies left but decided to run a check on the man’s vehicle, a Ford Crown Victoria, that was camouflaged and modified.

Mr Kenyon and his wife were arrested after the deputies discovered that he was wanted on federal charges.

The couple have been accused of child endangerment, while deputies have also found a rifle, a handgun and other weapons and ammunition inside the camouflaged car.

According to court documents from the district of Columbia’s US attorney’s office, Mr Kenyon was in the Capitol on 6 January from approximately 2:53pm until 3:18pm before joining a crowd outside at the Lower West Terrace.

Kenyon was wearing a “Jack Skellington” costume, based on a character from the movie, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Mr Kenyon and others damaged an exterior window of the building in the Capitol building during rioting.

“Kenyon first attempted to break the window with a closed fist, followed by several attempts with a flag staff. Later, he used several objects, including what appeared to be a table leg with a protruding nail, to assault law enforcement officers who were attempting to protect the building,” said a statement by the US Attorney’s office, District of Columbia.

“Additionally, according to the documents, he threw an unknown object and what appears to be a large, hard plastic pylon towards officers,” the statement added.

He has been charged with engaging in physical violence, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges.

The US district attorney’s office said in its statement that more than 675 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the US Capitol on 6 January.

Of this over 210 individuals have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Mr Kenyon continues to remain in custody, though he has appeared before a Nevada court after his arrest.

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