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A San Francisco man who is a self-proclaimed member of the Proud Boys and who has fought the city’s coronavirus mask orders is among dozens accused by the FBI of storming the U.S. Capitol in a violent crowd this week last.
Authorities have identified Daniel Goodwyn as one of the Capitol invaders through a series of videos, Instagram messages and Twitter posts, according to a complaint filed by the FBI on Friday. In the days following the riot sparked by President Trump, officials searched social media to find and arrest those involved.
According to his personal website, Goodwyn is a web and application developer who has worked occasionally in San Francisco and the Bay Area for the past eight years. On his social media accounts, Goodwyn posted numerous articles in support of Trump and his false claims that the November election was stolen from him. In October he said he was arrested on Muni for refusing to wear a mask, and he posted a video outside town hall criticizing the coronavirus stop.
More than 70 people were arrested in connection with the January 6 riot and at least 150 cases were opened, according to the New York Times. Many, like Goodwyn, are said to have left a trail on social media that connected them to the insurgency.
“I didn’t break or take anything, but walked inside for a few minutes,” Goodwyn said on Instagram on the day of the attack, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Goodwyn was identified in a video as “sfthoughtcriminal”. The video was filmed by Anthime Gionet, a far-right provocateur who goes through “Baked Alaska” online, according to the complaint. Gionet was arrested over the weekend after televising the violent crowd moving through the Capitol live.
In Gionet’s video, Goodwyn wore dark sunglasses, a MAGA hat and a beige and black jacket, according to the FBI complaint. He approached Gionet and said his name was Daniel Goodwyn.
As a Capitol Police officer led Goodwyn out of the building, he called the officer an ‘oath breaker’ and yelled at people to get the officer’s badge number as he was leaving, according to the complaint.
Goodwyn allegedly violated the law by knowingly entering a restricted-access building and entering “with the intent to interfere with or disrupt the proper conduct of government business,” according to the complaint. It was not immediately clear whether he had been arrested on Saturday.
The Chronicle called Goodwyn twice on Saturday for comment. Both times he told a reporter he was going to call the police and then hung up.
The unruly mob – which stormed the Capitol under encouragement from Trump to disrupt congressional approval of Joe Biden’s presidential victory – resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer . The FBI has received more than 100,000 tips, including photos and videos, related to the insurgency. More arrests are likely imminent.
The FBI called for “advice and digital media describing riots and violence in and around the US Capitol in Washington, DC”
“Make no mistake: together with our partners, we will hold accountable those who participated in yesterday’s siege on Capitol Hill,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement last week.
Goodwyn’s Twitter account – which had a photo of Trump as a profile photo and cover photo on Saturday – is filled with pro-Trump content and baseless claims about COVID-19. He also used the platform to denounce election results, masks and lockdowns in San Francisco.
In one video Posted on his Twitter account in November, Goodwyn said he drove from San Francisco to Washington DC for a huge pro-Trump rally after the election. On his way back to San Francisco, he said he stopped in Georgia to attend a Stop the Steal rally, which supported Trump’s baseless claims about a fraudulent election. He also attended a pro-Trump event in San Francisco this fall.
In October, Goodwyn said on social media that he had been arrested and cited on Muni for refusing to wear a mask. On October 27, he filmed himself outside the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street and said the COVID-19 lockdowns were a “medical tyranny.”
“I believe this whole pandemic is false religion,” he said in the video, in which he wore a MAGA hat. “This is just one step in the globalist elite’s plot to control us.”
On January 1, he said he was “now driving to Washington”. Over the next few days, he retweeted videos of the riot and posted other unsubstantiated claims that the election could still be called off in Trump’s favor.
On January 8, he said his Facebook and Instagram accounts had been disabled for no reason. Social media sites have recently cracked down on accounts that spread disinformation and incite violence.
According to his personal website, Goodwyn is a former website designer for Jews for Jesus and an advocate for the San Franciscans ASK Chick-fil-A! movement. He said he was “a very motivated web and mobile application developer”. He also said that “his ideal business is in San Francisco, prioritizes ethics and social responsibility.”
Trisha Thadani is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @TrishaThadani
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