A New York man inadvertently got himself arrested after sending a selfie of himself at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot to his girlfriend’s brother, a special agent with the Secret Service.
Local D.C. CBS-affiliate WUSA reports that Thomas Fee’s girlfriend posted on Facebook that he had been at the deadly Capitol riot. His girlfriend’s brother, a federal agent at the U.S. Department of State, saw the post online and texted Fee to confirm he had been at the Capitol breach.
WUSA reports that Fee, who lives in Freeport, N.Y., confirmed his presence and sent a selfie and video of himself inside the Capitol rotunda. He reportedly texted he was “at the tip of the spear” when he sent the video. The federal agent then forwarded the information to the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Fee has been charged with entering a restricted building and impeding the orderly conduct of government business or official functions WUSA reports.
Fee retired from the New York Fire Department last year, WUSA notes, making him the second retired firefighter to be arrested due to their involvement in the Capitol breach. Robert Sanford, 55, of Pennsylvania, was also arrested last week on charges of throwing a fire extinguisher at a Capitol Police officer’s head during the riot.
Several family members or those close to the people who participated in the riot have turned them over to the authorities. Guy Wesley Reffitt was arrested in Texas after his wife told the FBI of his presence at the Capitol breach.
According to an affidavit from the FBI, Reffitt had told his wife and children, “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors…traitors get shot.”
Helena Duke, 18, publicly identified members of her family who had been at the Capitol on Jan. 6., posting video of her mother allegedly at the event.