Siaka Massaquoi, circled in red, is seen inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (via FBI court filings).
An actor and Republican activist is facing charges for playing a role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Siaka Massaquoi, who serves as the First Vice-Chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, has been arrested in connection with the riot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia confirmed to Law&Crime. Court records indicate that the arrest was made at the end of November.
According to the affidavit filed on the public docket on Wednesday, Massaquoi was a part of the so-called “DC Brigade” Telegram channel of Donald Trump supporters who planned their visit to the Capitol ahead of Jan. 6, the Constitutionally-mandated date on which Congress must certify the winner of the presidential election. According to prosecutors, Massaquoi flew from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, and returned to the Golden State on Jan. 8.
Like countless others that day, Masasquoi attended Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, where the then-president implored his followers to “fight like hell” against the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.
Court documents allegedly show Massaquoi illegally entering the Capitol building at around 3:38 p.m., more than an hour after the initial violent breach that sent lawmakers and staffers scrambling. He is seen holding up a phone and recording his time inside the building.
“We have the right to walk into the Capitol because it is our Capitol,” he allegedly said in one video posted to social media after Jan. 6. “People need to go to jail for inciting this fraud.”
Multiple investigations have disproved the presence of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Federal authorities were tipped off to Massaquoi’s presence in the Capitol that day by Russell Taylor, a member of the “DC Brigade” Telegram group.
“Brother, you already had a high peg in my book,” Taylor texted Massaquoi, according to the affidavit. “Today seeing you storm the capital with us you just secured a top spot.”
Around a minute later, Massaquoi allegedly responded: “Hahaha, love you man! I’m there always!”
Taylor pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — a 20-year federal felony — and testified against at least one of his co-defendants, Alan Hostetter. Court filings have described Taylor’s cooperation with the government as “ongoing.”
According to the affidavit, Massaquoi faces a handful of disorderly conduct and trespassing misdemeanors for breaching the Capitol building.
It’s not Massaquoi’s first time tangling with the feds. In February 2022, he sued FBI Director Christopher Wray and Special Agent Chad Warren over the execution of a search warrant at Massaquoi’s home related to the Jan. 6 riot. Massaquoi said Warren and other FBI agents “illegally and unconstitutionally interrogated” him and illegally targeted him “because he belonged to a group on a communication platform” — specifically Telegram. That case was dismissed, a decision affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August.
Warren is the agent who signed the probable cause affidavit preceding Massaquoi’s Nov. 30 arrest.
Massaquoi has also joined a lawsuit against the FBI filed in September, accusing the federal law enforcement agency, Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland of violating “the constitutional rights of countless persons who simply happened to be in the District of Columbia, and elsewhere on January 6, 2021.” The lawsuit compares the FBI to “Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich” for its pursuit of those who participated in the riot. Other plaintiffs include brothers Gregory Purdy and Matthew Purdy and their uncle Robert Turner, who were charged with assaulting police at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Los Angeles County declined to comment.
In addition to his role with the Los Angeles GOP, Massaquoi has appeared in the TV shows “Lethal Weapon,” NCIS: Los Angeles,” and “S.W.A.T.” In recent years, he participated in productions that appear to push conservative and right-wing conspiracy theories. His latest entry in the Internet Movie Database is a role in a movie that mocks transgender athletes. The movie is produced by the right-wing Daily Wire media company.
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