Georgia Couple Arrested by FBI and Charged in Connection With Capitol Breach

Protesters clash with police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Julio Cortez/AP Photo

A married couple from Georgia has been arrested and charged for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

Charles Hand III and Mandy Robinson-Hand have been charged with four criminal code violations, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

They were arrested on March 11 by FBI agents who obtained the electronic signatures of the couple’s phones, Facebook posts, surveillance footage, and tips during their investigation.

Google records show that mobile devices associated with telephone numbers of the Hands were “within or around the U.S. Capitol” on that day, according to a “Statement of Facts” submitted to the court.

“Individuals believed to be Hand and Robinson-Hand were identified in open source documentary footage and in U.S. Capitol closed-circuit surveillance cameras (CCTV), which revealed that Hand and Robinson-Hand were present on the Capitol grounds and inside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021,” the document reads.

An independent witness who knows the couple from personal interactions identified them from CCTV screenshots taken from inside the Capitol building.

Hand, with a short brown beard and mustache, was identified as wearing a white collared shirt, dark vest, blue jeans, brown shoes, and a red University of Georgia baseball cap that’s emblazoned with a black “G” over a white oval.

Robinson-Hand, with brown hair, was identified as wearing a red shirt, black hooded jacket, blue jeans with rips in the front, and dark sneakers.

Goldcrest Films International captured footage of a mob that gathered outside the northwest side of the Capitol that shows Hand and Robinson-Hand among the crowd. Hand is seen breaking off a piece of metal fencing and stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans at about 1:06 p.m. Camera footage from the Capitol shows the couple entering the Capitol at 2:26 p.m.

One tipster provided information about Hand’s Facebook post describing his experience at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Hand said he was “an eye witness of the storming of the United States Capitol on 1-6-2021” and that he was “on the scene” between 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

“In addition, a tipster provided Facebook postings made by Mandy Robinson-Hand stating, ‘We’re in the capital [sic]. Taking our house back,’ and ‘We’ve Been tear-gassed etc.’ The tipster further reported, ‘This post has since been deleted but Mandy and her husband Chuck were in the Capitol. I cannot tell if they were on any of the images or not,’” the court document reads.

More than 750 people have been arrested thus far in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, event, with more than 200 of them pleading guilty to the charges laid against them. Hand and Robinson-Hand are the 20th and 21st people with ties to Georgia who have been arrested regarding the incident.