New Jersey Man Identified as Capitol Rioter After Grandmother's Gossip Helped Lead FBI to Suspect

A New Jersey man is facing charges for taking part in the US Capitol insurrection after family friends gossiped that he was at the pro-Trump riot.

Capitol Riots
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Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Capitol Riots

A New Jersey man is facing charges for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots after gossip between two grandmothers helped tip off the FBI, according to court documents

Robert Petrosh Jr., of Mays Landing, New Jersey, was arrested Wednesday and is facing four charges in connection with the riot, the Department of Justice reports. 

A week after a mob of Donald Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, an anonymous tipster submitted an online tip to FBI’s National Threat Operations Center alleging that Petrosh was on the steps of the Capitol.

One week later (Jan. 17), the tipster told the FBI that Petrosh’s mother told their grandmother that Petrosh went inside the Capitol, adding that Petrosh had been “lying low” after others who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 were arrested. The FBI then obtained a copy of Petrosh’s drivers license and identified Petrosh in photos of rioters standing near the House wing door. 

According to court documents, Petrosh, 51, is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Petrosh was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in a virtual court hearing on May 11, NBC News reports. 

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