An Iowa man was arrested on Capitol riot charges after a family member contacted the FBI

Advertisement
An Iowa man was arrested on Capitol riot charges after a family member contacted the FBI
A screenshot of surveillance footage showing Kenneth Rader inside the Capitol building on January 6.The Department of Justice
  • An Iowa man was arrested this month in connection to the Capitol riot after a family member contacted the FBI.
  • Kenneth Rader faces four charges stemming from his role in the insurrection.
Advertisement

An Iowa man with ties to the QAnon conspiracy movement was arrested earlier this month in connection to the January 6 Capitol attack after one of his family members contacted the FBI.

Kenneth Rader faces four charges stemming from his role in the insurrection, including entering a restricted building, parading in a Capitol building, and disorderly conduct. Rader was arrested on January 11 and had his first court appearance last week in Sioux City, according to the Des Moines Register. He's due back in court on Thursday.

Prosecutors say one of Rader's family members contacted the FBI two days after the siege and alerted investigators to Rader's presence at the attack. The unnamed tipster told the agency that their "radicalized" family member, Rader, shared videos of himself on Capitol grounds and made multiple verbal threats against then-Vice President Mike Pence, stating, "we're not done!" and "watch what we do after Trump is gone," according to charging documents.

Law enforcement officers interviewed the tipster and another unnamed family member in September 2021, court records said. The family members shared multiple recordings and text messages from Rader during and after the attack, investigators said.

An Iowa man was arrested on Capitol riot charges after a family member contacted the FBI
A screenshot of a video Rader took of himself outside the Capitol on January 6, according to prosecutors.The Department of Justice

The first tipster also speculated that Rader was linked to the far-right QAnon conspiracy movement, telling investigators about a time they were with Rader and saw his phone receive a notification from "Q," prompting Rader to allegedly say he was "waiting for instructions." Investigators later found a photo on Rader's Facebook featuring a large letter Q.

Advertisement

Rader participated in a voluntary interview with investigators in September in which he said he said he looked through an open Capitol door but did not go inside on January 6. However, the FBI cited cell tower data that appeared to put Rader inside the building during the riot and investigators later identified Rader on surveillance footage entering the building through a broken door, according to charging documents.

Prosecutors say Rader was inside the Capitol for approximately three minutes before leaving.

An attorney for Rader did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

More than 760 people have been arrested in connection with the deadly Capitol attack and more than 175 have pleaded guilty thus far.

{{}}