Another South Carolinian has been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to stop the peaceful transition of power resulting from the 2020 presidential election.
Christina Praser-Fair of Fairfield County was arrested by the FBI’s Columbia field office in late September. According to federal court documents, she was charged with knowingly entering an unauthorized building without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in any building or grounds of the Capitol and from parading, demonstrating or picketing in any Capitol building.
She is the 29th South Carolinian arrested during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. She could not be reached for comment.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Praser-Fair is a “tea specialist” and president of the Cornwallis Tea Co., a Winnsboro restaurant with handcrafted tea. The restaurant advertises itself as “a cozy spot for soups, sandwiches, salads and pastries, plus a variety of teas.” Praser-Fair’s profile also mentions Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Arlington, Virginia, where she was educated.
A detailed complaint in her case states that Praser-Fair was interviewed by WLTX-TV two days after the riot and told the reporter that while she was in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, she did not enter the building.
However, an extensive review of closed-captioned television videos on 17 different cameras showed that Praser-Fair and her teenage son were inside the Capitol, the complaint said. The son was not named because he is a minor.
Praser-Fair entered the Capitol at 2:22 p.m. — 22 minutes after rioters first entered the building — and stayed until 2:49 p.m., the complaint said.
By 2:20 p.m., minutes before Praser-Fair entered the building through the Senate wing, rioters had forced members of the U.S. Senate and Vice President Mike Pence to evacuate the chamber. Members of the U.S. House also began fleeing their chambers around that time.
During her stay, she walked to the second floor of the Capitol, walked through multiple hallways, crossed the Rotunda, walked through Statuary Hall, walked through hallways to the outside of the U.S. House of Representatives, then returned to the Rotunda and left ultimately the thought. the Rotunda door on the second floor, the complaint said.
Although the complaint against Praser-Fair did not allege she took violent actions, federal judges in other South Carolina cases have emphasized in court filings that the hundreds of non-violent people like Praser-Fair at the Capitol that day provided cover to the hundreds of aggressive rioters who fought with police using weapons and chemical sprays, breaking through police lines and smashing windows to gain access to the building.
Praser-Fair is now free on a personal recognizance bond. Her next court date is Dec. 17, according to court records.
Judges have also noted that to gain access to the Capitol, non-violent rioters would have had to pass through toppled barricades and would have seen police fighting with rioters. The Capitol was surrounded by temporary and permanent barricades and closed to the public that day.
On January 6, 2001, tens of thousands of people arrived in Washington to protest the presidential election results and listen to speeches in which Trump and others falsely claimed that the November 3 election was rigged in favor of the Democrats.
These claims had been rejected by some sixty courts in conflict zones due to lack of evidence. Numerous audits and recounts confirmed a victory for current President Joe Biden. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected attempts to overturn the election. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, publicly stated that the FBI had investigated claims of election fraud and found nothing that would have changed the outcome of the election.
After Trump’s speech, several thousand protesters marched to the Capitol, attacked police, breached defenses and entered the building.
At that time, the House and Senate began conducting a ceremonial but necessary certification of each state’s Electoral College votes. The rioters who entered the Capitol halted that process for about five hours as members of Congress, as well as Pence, fled to safe areas.
The January 6 riots remain a hot political issue, as well as the cause of numerous criminal charges against the rioters. Trump also faces criminal charges for his role in inciting the riot. And Trump continues to repeat his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Last week, during a town hall meeting, he characterized the January 6 riots as a “day of love.”
In reality, more than 1,500 people were arrested for their actions during the riot. It is the Justice Department’s largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.
“During the siege of the Capitol that day, more than 140 police officers were attacked — including more than 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and more than 60 from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department — the Capitol was damaged, government property was destroyed, and other government property was destroyed. destroyed. stolen. Current estimates put losses from the Capitol siege at more than $2.8 million,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Of the more than 1,500 arrests, 571 people are charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement officers. About 170 suspects have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon. 943 defendants have already pleaded guilty. Evidence against the rioters usual contains video, as well as the rioters’ GPS location data from their own cell phones.
