Woman who wanted to ‘find me a Proud Boy’ instead finds herself arrested over Capitol riot

‘I’ll be fine. I’m not on Twitter and I doubt anyone would recognize me,’ the accused said before she was allegedly recognized

Stephanie Baez is facing federal charges in connection to the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol. ( )

She wanted to find a Proud Boy, but instead, Stephanie Baez is facing federal charges in connection to the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol.

The 27-year-old California woman was arrested in Alabama on Friday, five months after a viral video allegedly showed her outside the US Capitol sharing her feelings for the group self-described as "Western chauvinists" who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.

In a video captioned "Girl is ‘Looking for a Proud Boy’!" posted to Reddit’s r/ParlerWatch forum in January, a woman who the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges is Ms Baez is asked how she feels about the Proud Boys.

"I love the Proud Boys. I want to find me a Proud Boy," the woman responds, before sharing her Instagram handle #stephmb293.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice on Friday, Ms Baez was seen inside the Capitol Crypt wearing a T-shirt with George Orwell’s face and quote saying, "Boy, did I call it or what?"

When asked on 7 January if she had been doxxed, Ms Baez allegedly said "Nah. I’ll be fine. I’m not on Twitter and I doubt anyone would recognize me."

They alleged she also posted selfies wearing that same shirt to the Instagram account identified in the Reddit video.

“Welcome to 1984! Things are going to get cray,” she captioned the post, according to the FBI. “But as long as Patriots love America, she won’t fall.”

The FBI also alleges in the criminal complaint that she posted to Instagram saying "I’m inside the capitol building" and "Welp time to get back and storm the building".

"I’m OK! But I got a bit of tear gas. Nothing bad luckily. Where are you guys?? I got some vids and video of all the broken glass from inside," one of her messages allegedly said.

"Oh there are fur sure Trump supporters storming here, and they are pissed. They might try storming the Supreme Court later… 2 old ladies were some of the first people in the capitol building and they had garbage lids, pushing back cops. Those are the Patriots of today," said another.

She has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Ms Baez’s defence attorney John Pierce told Law&Crime in an email that she would be pleading not guilty.

"We intend to take the case to trial and seek a full acquittal,” Mr Pierce said in the email.

According to the criminal complaint, Ms Baez told the FBI’s investigators that everyone was calm and just following groups into the Capitol and they had no reason to believe they shouldn’t be there.

"The defendant further claimed that she had authority to be inside the Capitol because she had looked up the Capitol’s hours ahead of time and confirmed that the Capitol would be open so that she could tour it," the criminal complaint said.

“She said her reason in looking up the Capitol was because it was so close to where Trump was speaking, and she was just checking out what else in the area that one would want to see while in Washington DC.”

Ms Baez was released on bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, 9 June.