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- Couy Griffin, the founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” was arrested in Washington, DC on Sunday after pledging to bring guns into the city on the inauguration day of President-elect Joe Biden.
- Griffin, an ally of President Trump with a history of inflammatory and racist speech, is an elected Republican County Commissioner in New Mexico.
- The FBI’s Washington Field Office told Insider Griffin was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on an arrest warrant for his participation in the Jan.6 insurgency.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
The far-right “Cowboys for Trump” leader has been arrested in Washington, DC, after pledging last week to bring guns to the nation’s capital on President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration day.
In a statement, the FBI’s Washington Field Office told Insider that Couy Griffin, an elected Republican County Commissioner in New Mexico, was arrested Sunday afternoon by the United States Capitol Police, who had been arrested. then informed the office. Griffin “has been the subject of an arrest warrant for his role in the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill,” the FBI said.
A criminal complaint, dated Jan.15, accuses Griffin of entering restricted land without legal authorization.
A police affidavit in support of the complaint cites videos posted to Griffin’s Facebook page – since deleted – where he brags about witnessing the January 6 insurgency and vows to return in order to plant an American flag on the desk of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
“We could have a 2nd Amendment rally on these same stages that we had this rally [on January 6]”Griffin said in another video.” You know, and if we do, then it’s going to be a sad day because there’s going to be blood coming out of this building. “
As Insider reported last week, Griffin reaffirmed his intention to travel to Washington, DC again for Biden’s inauguration, saying at an Otero County Commissioners hearing on January 14 that he would bring two guns in his car with him. One, he said, would be placed under the front passenger seat – a violation of DC law, which prohibits keeping a firearm within reach of a vehicle occupant.
“I embrace my Second Amendment, I will keep my right to bear arms, my vehicle is an extension of my house under constitutional law, and I have the right to have these guns in my car,” he asserted. These remarks are cited in the police affidavit used to request an arrest warrant.
Griffin has a habit of making inflammatory and racist remarks. Last year, he said that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” in a video shared on Twitter by President Donald Trump; he also said supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement should “return to Africa”.
Democrats are asking him to quit public service.
“I demand that Couy Griffin immediately resign from the Otero County Commission or my office will seek his removal,” New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said sunday.
The local Republican Party, for its part, is distancing itself from Griffin.
“Mr. Griffin does not represent the Republican Party of New Mexico and does not speak for the party,” Mike Curtis, a party spokesperson, told Insider. The GOP State “does not endorse or endorse statements made by [the] The founder of Cowboys for Trump, ”he said, and“ condemns violence and any threat of violence against any person or group ”.
Griffin could not be reached immediately for comment.
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