Man With Assault Rifle Charged With Threatening Pelosi, Officials Say

A person who had an assault rifle was charged with threatening Nancy Pelosi, the Home speaker, after he traveled to Washington for the pro-Trump rally on Wednesday and despatched a textual content message saying he would put “a bullet in her noggin on Stay TV,” the federal authorities mentioned.

Federal brokers mentioned the person, Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., had been staying at a Vacation Inn in Washington and had weapons in his camper-style trailer, together with a Glock handgun, a pistol, a Tavor X95 assault rifle and a whole lot of rounds of ammunition.

Mr. Meredith was charged with transmitting a menace in interstate commerce, possession of an unregistered firearm and illegal possession of ammunition, in keeping with courtroom data. It was not instantly clear if he had a lawyer.

The Division of Justice said on Friday that he was considered one of 13 individuals who had been charged in federal courtroom after a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and disrupted Congress because it was certifying the outcomes of the presidential election.

These charged included conspiracy theorists, Proud Boys, elected officials and everyday Americans.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Mr. Meredith had erected a billboard in 2018 in Acworth, Ga., that learn, “#QANON” together with the identify of his enterprise, Automotive Nutz Automotive Wash.

The QAnon conspiracy principle, which the F.B.I. has labeled a possible home terrorism menace, accuses Democrats and a few Republicans of being beholden to a cabal of bureaucrats, pedophiles and Satanists. Many followers imagine that President Trump is secretly battling a felony band of intercourse traffickers.

Mr. Meredith instructed The Journal-Structure in 2018 that he had put up the QAnon billboard as a result of he was “a patriot among the many tens of millions who love this nation.”

Mr. Meredith, whose present hometown was unavailable, instructed federal brokers that he had been touring from Colorado and had arrived too late for Wednesday’s rally in Washington.

“I’m making an attempt however presently caught in Cambridge, OH with trailer lights being fastened,” he wrote in considered one of a number of textual content messages to associates, in keeping with the F.B.I.

In one other textual content message, accompanied by a purple satan emoji, he mentioned he had “a ton of 5.56 armor piercing ammo.” In different textual content messages, he referred to Ms. Pelosi with misogynistic slurs and threatened to run her over, the F.B.I. mentioned.

“I predict that inside 12 days, many in our nation will die,” Mr. Meredith wrote, in keeping with the F.B.I.

Seamus Hughes contributed reporting.