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Federal prosecutors have charged three Lindstrom men in connection with the deadly January 6 riot on the United States Capitol, including using a shield to assault law enforcement.
District of Columbia prosecutors have charged Robert Westbury, 62, his son Isaac Westbury, 19, and a third man, Aaron James, 35, with crimes ranging from assaulting Capitol Hill cops to disrupting business of the government. The arrests came just six months after another son, Jonah Westbury, 26, was charged with participating in the siege on the Capitol.
The FBI arrested the three men on Monday and a judge unsealed an indictment of 10 counts – five felonies, five misdemeanors – following their first court appearance. The five felony charges are against Isaac Westbury and James, who also face additional misdemeanor charges.
Monday’s arrests bring the total number of Minnesotans charged with federal crimes related to the January 6 insurgency to eight so far. According to the George Washington University Program on Extremism, more than 600 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the storming of the United States Capitol as a pro-Trump mob sought to disrupt a session Joint Congress convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Reached by phone Monday, Rosemarie Westbury – who shares an address with the defendants but has not confirmed her relationship with them – described the case as a “tyrannical system that intimidates the citizens of this great United States of America” .
“This is a false story,” Westbury said. “None of those people who have been taken into custody have a criminal record. None of them have criminality in them. None of them have been involved in criminal activity.”
She later added: “The government we have in place is an internal threat to me.”
FBI agents are still seeking help in locating participants in the events of January 6, deploying nationwide in what has been called the largest criminal investigation ever undertaken by the Department of Justice.
A DC federal grand jury charged Isaac Westbury and Aaron James with using a law enforcement shield to “assault, resist, oppose, hinder, intimidate and interfere” with an officer and wear a dangerous weapon in the United States Capitol as they allegedly tried to “interfere with the orderly conduct of government business and official duties”. Both are felony charges.
Robert Westbury is not charged with using a weapon during the riot, but faces charges of entering the United States Capitol illegally and knowingly and attempting to disrupt operations and functions of the government. The charges against all three also included parades, protests and pickets at a United States Capitol building. The indictment document is light on details outside of the list of federal crimes charged to the men.
Keala Ede, a federal public defender assigned to represent them, declined to comment on Monday. A spokesperson for the District of Columbia’s attorney general’s office also declined to comment.
US investigating magistrate David Schultz allowed the three men to be released from US Marshals Service custody in Minneapolis after brief initial court appearances virtually Monday. Proceedings in their DC cases will continue remotely next week.
Ede said at the hearing that Jonah Westbury, the 26-year-old relative who is also awaiting trial in Washington on charges related to the Capitol Riot, plans to pick up the men once they are reportedly released on Monday.
As part of their conditions of release, all three are prohibited from possessing firearms or destructive devices, “excessive alcohol consumption”, or illegal drug use. They were also ordered to hand over their passports. Their next court appearances are scheduled for Oct. 12 before a District of Columbia judge via Zoom.
Jonah Westbury, was arrested and charged in April for allegedly participating in the Capitol Riot. The FBI said a former high school classmate told the office the person saw videos posted to social media by Westbury of him recounting his actions inside the Capitol.
Westbury, a former wrestler at the University of Mary Marauders in Bismarck, North Dakota, recorded himself spinning and laughing inside the Capitol, according to an FBI affidavit. “We did it,” he said, according to the affidavit. “We were pepper sprayed, abused.”
“First time on Capitol Hill,” he said in another video, also taken at Capitol Hill. “I am proud of each [expletive] one of you.”
Prosecution documents filed against Jonah Westbury in April made no reference to his relatives as having also participated in the events of January 6.
Jonah Westbury’s next court appearance in the District of Columbia is scheduled for November 3. Her attorneys and prosecutors have told a judge they may be able to resolve the case before it goes to trial. The charges against him include many of the charges his relatives are currently facing: entering or staying in a building or land with restricted access; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building and grounds; and parade, demonstrate or picket in a Capitol building.
Editor-in-chief Andy Mannix contributed to this report.
Stephen Montemayor • 612-673-1755
Twitter: @smontemayor
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