A Florida man is facing federal charges after a social media picture showed him inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, according to a criminal complaint and Justice Department documents.
A law enforcement agent later contacted the tipster, who said they knew Mariotto personally for over a year and that they followed him on Facebook. The “concerned citizen” then gave an account of seeing photographs of Mariotto posted on his Facebook page that showed Mariotto inside the Capitol building. The tipster said they took screenshots of Mariotto’s post and saved them before Mariotto’s account was deleted, and then provided one of the photos to law enforcement as evidence.
The photo, which appears to be a selfie, depicts Mariotto in the Senate Chamber with the following caption “I’m in [sic] And there are just a few [sic] This is our house,” the complaint states.
An FBI agent later contacted Mariotto, who admitted that he was present inside the Capitol during the riot, telling the agent that “he thought he ‘was being part of history,’ and recounting that ‘he walked through the Capitol chanting ’USA.'”
Mariotto said he was aware that he was not supposed to be inside the Capitol building, “and stated he would accept full responsibility for his actions,” the complaint states.
“I don’t ever advocate violence,” Mariotto told the outlet, adding that he was there that day to rally on behalf of a delay in election certification.
“I just thought I was doing something patriotic,” Mariotto told WPTV.