An Illinois man has become the first person involved in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, to be charged with firing a gun.
John Banuelos, 39, was arrested on March 8 on multiple counts, including discharging a firearm on U.S. Capitol grounds.
There’s “probable cause to believe” that Mr. Banuelos violated a federal law that prohibits firing a gun, discharging explosives, or using dangerous weapons inside Capitol buildings or on Capitol grounds, an FBI agent wrote in the document.
Agents checked a national database and found no indication that Mr. Banuelos was licensed to carry a gun on Jan. 6. Washington has strict gun control laws with few exceptions.
While being interviewed later in 2021 after a person was killed in Salt Lake City, Mr. Banuelos told officers that he went inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“I was in the D.C. riots. You can look me up, OK? The FBI hasn’t came and got me yet, OK?” he also said.
Investigators found a Twitter account with the name John Banuelos and found a video that appeared to show Mr. Banuelos holding a semi-automatic weapon in a video that was posted in response to the FBI’s dissemination of the photograph.
Agents later interviewed Mr. Banuelos, on Jan. 19. No transcript of the interview has been released, but according to the FBI, Mr. Banuelos said that he never threatened anybody and that many of his posts were posted by artificial intelligence. The agent who authored the complaint said that based on his observations, Mr. Banuelos is the same person in the images and video from Jan. 6.
It’s not clear whether Mr. Banuelos has retained a lawyer. No lawyer was listed for him on the court docket.
Video Released
Former West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans recently released a video of a man, identified by law enforcement as Mr. Banuelos, shooting a gun outside the Capitol.Mr. Evans, who is running for Congress, took credit for the arrest.
“Government had video of him shooting a gun on J6 for over three years, but they didn’t arrest him until I broke the story and it got national coverage,” Mr. Evans wrote on social media platform X.
Social Media Posts
In posts on X, the account identified by the FBI as belonging to Mr. Banuelos suggested he used to be a federal employee.“Quit my job as a fed,” he allegedly wrote in one post on March 3.
“Do you want information from a former fed let me know,” another recent post states.
No Charges Over Killing
On July 4, 2021, Mr. Banuelos told police officers in Utah that he had stabbed a man at a local park, who subsequently died.“I did it to defend my life, man. You know what I’m saying? My intentions were never to go there and to do that. I was relaxing. I wanted to smoke weed. I wanted to chill. I brought my beer. I was just chilling,” Mr. Banuelos told officers.
Prosecutors later declined to press charges, KSL-TV reported.
“Based upon the information provided to our office for screening, we have determined that we are unable to proceed with the prosecution of John Emmanuel Banuelos at this time,” the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said in a letter to a Salt Lake City detective.
“This office would be more than happy to revisit this matter if further information is developed which more adequately supports the prosecution of said individual,” the office said.
