A Placentia man seen walking through the U.S. Capitol building with hundreds of people who stormed in more than three years ago seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election was arrested this week, according to court documents.
FBI agents arrested Shawn Schaefer, 51, on Wednesday, Jan. 17 on five charges related to his actions during the 2021 attack on the Capitol, an event that had been hyped for months among supporters of former President Donald Trump as he pursued illegitimate claims he actually won the election over Joe Biden.
Schaefer was accused of entering a restricted building and attempting to impede government business.
Federal records showed he was in custody Thursday, Jan. 18, but booking information was not available; nor was information for an attorney who may be representing him.
In a criminal complaint filed in a federal district court in Washington, D.C. last week, a special agent working for the FBI’s L.A. field office investigating domestic terrorism cases said Schaefer was spotted on security cameras walking with a large crowd and taking photos inside the Capitol building “for less than two minutes.”
According to the complaint, an associate of Schaefer who traveled with him to D.C. identified him to the FBI as part of a plea deal. The associate was not identified in the complaint. Portions of the identification of the associate were redacted from the complaint.
Schaefer and the other person had planned since Dec. 28, 2020 to travel to the Capitol to be there for Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, according to the complaint.
In text messages, the pair discussed buying small radios to stay in touch with each other once they got to the rally. They also met on Jan. 4, 2021, the day before their flight.
The day of the attack, the agent said, Schaefer entered the Senate wing of the Capitol building through a fire door just before 3 p.m. He packed into a narrow hallway with dozens of others bearing flags and…
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