RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia man has been charged with crimes in connection to his alleged involvement in the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jeffrey Etter, the co-founder of CrossFit Slice gym in Portsmouth, was charged with the following:
- Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly conduct in a capitol building
- Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building
CrossFit Slice was previously the center of controversy in May 2020, when the owners chose to keep the gym open despite COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic.
On June 18, 2021, the FBI received a tip from a confidential source, claiming that Etter had been one of the individuals who illegally entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. FBI agents cross-examined video evidence of the insurrection with social media posts from Parler, identifying Etter and his clothing.
The FBI also executed a search warrant on Verizon in order to identify Etter’s phone number had used multiple cell sites consistent with a geographic area of the United States Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Etter was also identified by FBI agents in CCTV footage and Metropolitan Police Department body-worn camera footage.
“In this footage, [Etter] is loudly screaming profanity and obscenities, while facing the MPD Officers, pointing his finger, and in one instance walking toward the MPD officers in a threatening manner,” the FBI’s statement of facts reads, in part. “At one point, [Etter] shouts to the crowd, ‘inside, hey they said go inside,’ while holding his hands up motioning for the crowd to go inside the Capitol.”
According to the FBI, the individual identified as Etter is seen on CCTV footage entering the U.S. Capitol building at 2:56 p.m. He can reportedly be seen exiting the building through a window at 3:32 p.m., 33 minutes later. However, he is still seen directly outside of the building in footage captured at 4:32 p.m.
On March 25, 2022, the FBI reportedly interviewed one of Etter’s neighbors who reviewed photos collected by the FBI and identified the individual as Etter.
