The 22-year-old Pennsylvania woman arrested earlier this week for her alleged role in the U.S. Capitol riots has been charged with theft following reports that she had stolen a laptop computer from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Riley Williams of Harrisburg turned herself in on Monday after federal authorities had issued a warrant for her arrest on a charge of unlawful entry and disorderly conduct. Williams’ mother reportedly told federal agencies last week that her daughter had left home, presumably around the same time as the riot on January 6, telling her mother she’d be back in about two weeks.
An arrest affidavit showed that a witness told investigators that Williams had stolen some type of electronic device from Pelosi’s office and had intended to sell it to Russia. The affidavit indicates that the plan to sell the computer to Russia fell through.
According to the Washington Post, Williams was charged on Tuesday with helping to steal a laptop computer from Pelosi’s office. According to an affidavit obtained by the newspaper, Williams allegedly recorded a video of another person taking an HP laptop from Pelosi’s desk on January 6, and posted the video to social media along with all-caps messages.
“STOLE S**T FROM NANCY POLESI,” Williams allegedly wrote in a series of misspelled social media posts. “I TOOK HER GRAVEL HAMMWR TBING [sic].”
“I DOMT CARE I TOOK NANCY POLESIS HARD DRIVES I DON’T CARE KILL ME [sic],” read another message.
As the report notes, Capitol Police confirmed that a computer had been taken during the Capitol insurrection, but her chief of staff said that computer was used “only for presentations.”
A public defender has said the allegations against Williams are false.
Williams will remain in custody until Thursday morning, when she is said to appear at a detention hearing in what a judge described as a “fast-moving case of national import,” according to the Washington Post.
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