Left: Jason James Howland near the northwest scaffolding of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Top right: Provided in an FBI statement of offense, Howland replies to a tweet from Rep. Lauren Boebert that it was not “antifa” that breached the Capitol but “patriots.” Bottom right: Howland, circled in red, approaches U.S. Capitol Police Officers inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photos courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jason Howland, the founder of an organization known for its protest of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, has been arrested and charged with five counts including obstructing proceedings inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Court records reviewed Thursday by Law&Crime confirm Howland was arrested in Michigan on Jan. 23 and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, 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.
Howland, the founder of the group “American Patriot Council,” is accused of storming the Capitol and in an FBI affidavit accompanying the charges, the agent notes that Howland was readily identified in a Jan. 17, 2021, post on social media site X, then Twitter, from a sedition hunter group known as Michigan Tea.
Inset: Michigan Tea tweet from Jan. 17, 2021, identifying Jason Howland inside the Capitol. Background: Howland, circled in red, appears to be speaking on his cellphone inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The tweet highlighted specifically how Howland and the group he founded “spent the entirety of the pandemic holding rallies and calling for the arrests of @GovWhitmer, @MIATTYGen and @Jocelyn Benson,” or, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s attorney general and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
“Which makes this video still image of him so much more fun,” the Michigan Tea Party tweet from Jan. 6 read.
The FBI was also able to identify Howland, the affidavit said, because they could compare a hoodie and hat he wore at a protest at the Michigan Capitol in December 2020 with what he wore inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Court records reveal the FBI first questioned Howland in the summer of 2020 when “he requested a meeting with federal law enforcement officials to seek an arrest warrant for the Michigan Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State.”
In April 2021 the congressional committee probing the Jan. 6 attack took a deposition from one of Howland’s associates, Ryan Kelley. Kelley told the committee about how he and Howland came up with the American Patriot Council, according to a statement of facts. That led investigators to a December 2020 video where Howland and Kelley spoke to viewers at length about the election. In one clip reviewed by the FBI, Howland proclaimed that Donald Trump had not lost the election and that Trump “had a plan” though he admitted, he didn’t know what it was.
What he did know, he said in the video, was that Joe Biden would be elected though he believed it was rigged.
Prosecutors say Howland flooded social media spaces with messages responding to posts that the certification on Jan. 6 was unconstitutional or that then-Vice President Mike Pence could stop proceedings. He commented on the powers of the 12th Amendment, indicating he allegedly understood what he was doing when he descended on Washington, D.C.
Many of his messages were erased, the FBI said, but they were able to locate them using the internet archive known as the Wayback Machine.
Howland also offered to help others get to the Capitol by bus, tweets in evidence show.
Video footage from the northwest side of the Capitol allegedly shows Howland standing among rioters as officers try to push them way. Howland was also near the scaffolding that led to the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace where some of the worst violence that day erupted, officials said.
Prosecutors say Howland could be seen and heard in footage yelling “Let’s go!” as he waved his arm toward the Capitol.
“The crowd immediately begins to push forward, overtaking the officers,” the statement of offense notes.
This enticement also allegedly occurred moments before police officers were assaulted around him. He would eventually make it to the Upper West Terrace and then inside where he was seen stalking through the Capitol, approaching police and using his cellphone. He made it to the Crypt and appeared to walk back and forth while on his phone for several minutes. He also was seen in the Rotunda, prosecutors say, as Metropolitan Police were trying to clear the building.
In body camera footage, police can allegedly be heard telling Howland to leave the Rotunda but he would not. In one screenshot from surveillance footage inside the Capitol, it appears that another rioter is attempting to restrain Howland as he approaches police.
He did not exit the Capitol until some point after 3:17 p.m., the FBI said. Once outside, he continued “yelling at police officers who were arriving in response to the riot,” court records show.
Around 2:08 p.m., prosecutors allege Howland even responded to a tweet from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-CO, when lawmakers were on lockdown.
“We are locked down in House chambers,” she wrote.
Another user replied, “Rumor is that Antifa breached the security.”
Howland replied from his account: “Nope. Patriots did. The government no longer protects our rights.”
It is unclear if Howland has retained an attorney. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the tweet identifying Howland came from the Michigan Tea Party. It did not; it came from an online sedition sleuth group known as Michigan Tea.
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