Feds: Bridgeville man accused in Capitol riot said he would do it again

A Bridgeville man who is charged with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot said in messages recovered on his cell phone that he felt the need to kill people, including President Joe Biden, an FBI agent said Thursday.

FBI Special Agent Mark Brundage also testified during a detention hearing that suspect Kenneth Grayson told agents in an interview earlier this week that he had no regrets for entering the Capitol and that he would do it again.

Despite that testimony, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan granted bond to Grayson following a hearing Thursday.

She found that he does not pose a serious risk of flight or serious risk of obstruction in his case.

“There is no question this is a very serious offense that goes against our democracy,” Lenihan said. “I don’t mean to minimize, for one minute, the gravity of these charges.”

But, under the law, based on the charges against him, she said she cannot consider the potential for danger as a factor to detain him.

Grayson, 51, is charged with five federal counts, including knowingly entering a restricted building; disorderly conduct that impedes government business; disruptive conduct in the Capitol buildings; parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol buildings; and obstructing or impeding an official proceeding, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

Following Lenihan’s decision, Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo Song asked that the court stay the order releasing Grayson so that prosecutors in Washington, D.C. — where Grayson will be tried — can appeal the decision to the district court there.

Lenihan agreed to stay her order — which releases Grayson on $25,000 unsecured bond — until 5 p.m. Friday. He will remain in custody until that time.

According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Grayson went to Washington on Jan. 6 and livestreamed himself on Facebook inside the Capitol Rotunda and in the Crypt beneath it that afternoon.

The FBI then received four separate tips of Grayson’s involvement, including images he posted on Facebook. They were able to track him on security cameras inside the Capitol, and matched the clothing he was wearing — including a QAnon sweatshirt and black Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap.

Brundage testified that when Grayson was interviewed by the FBI, he admitted that he went to the Capitol and that he livestreamed the interior of the building.

“Did the defendant express any regrets?” Song asked.

“He explained if he was to do it again, he would have gone back to ‘D.C. on Jan. 6 and participate,” the agent answered.

Brundage said Grayson “expressed a feeling or need to kill, and that included current President Joe Biden.”

Grayson told the agents that he anticipated violence that day, but that he did not participate in any. He’d been to Washington twice before to participate in Trump rallies, Brundage said.

In a private message Grayson sent following a trip in November to participate in a Trump rally, according to the complaint, he wrote:

“We were smashing bro..went to the van I rented and geared up..had to leave at 7pm though, it wasn’t really bad yet..I was beating commies with a flag pole I picked up and looked like it wasn’t going to be that bad Proud Boys were everywhere..cops weren’t doing a [expletive] thing watching old people get [expletive] with it was sickening.”

He also wrote, “I left one unconscious so I did my little part and got the [expletive] out before I got arrested.”

Then, in a Dec. 23 message, he wrote, “…Ok well we have room for the road trip..I’m sick of these [expletive] posers on FB big tough guys always talking about their guns and tempers and ooo scary guy [expletives] U !! I’m on the front line every time [expletive]! This [expletive] isn’t a [expletive] game to me , or some social media [expletive] story time !! I’m there for the greatest celebration of all time after Pence leads the Senate flip!! OR IM THERE IF TRUMP TELLS US TO STORM THE [expletive] CAPITAL IMA DO THAT THEN! We don’t want any trouble but they are not going to steal this election that I guarantee bro!!”

Evidence was presented to Lenihan that Grayson has a criminal record, which includes convictions for simple assault, disorderly conduct and other misdemeanors — but no felonies.

There is a pending warrant against him in West Virginia for grand larceny dating to October for a failure to return a laptop and cellphone to a previous employer.

Brundage said that during a search of Grayson’s home, agents recovered a shotgun and two rifles, as well as a handgun.

All of them, the agent said, were lawfully owned, and Grayson has a concealed carry permit.

Investigators also found fireworks — still in their original packaging.

Among the exhibits presented during Thursday’s hearing were a selfie photograph of Grayson with the head of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, and Alex Jones, the publisher of InfoWars.

Defense attorney Stanley Greenfield argued that Grayson’s criminal record showed no “consequential criminal conduct,” and that he is not accused of perpetrating violence during the Capitol riot.

“He followed other people,” Greenfield said. “He was not the first to go in.

“The question is whether he was there to do the wrong thing — other than being there. What was his intention while there?”

Greenfield told Lenihan his client has a job that pays well, a significant other, a daughter and two older parents he helps to care for. Grayson has worked in the oil and gas industry as a contractor.

“There is no basis for detention,” he said.

But Song countered that Grayson is dangerous and could perpetrate violence on the people who informed against him.

“He harbors continued inclination toward violence,” she said. “He still wants to hurt people and kill them. He characterizes himself as a fighter. He would do it again.”