Prosecutors: Man charged in Capitol Hill riot told officer they were ‘listening to Trump’

Suspect arrested in Dania Beach

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A man who was arrested in South Florida has been indicted on multiple charges in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C.

According to his detention order, Richard Harris, 40, was “on the leading edge of a group that successfully breached a manned barrier inside the Capitol building.”

Prosecutors say they have multiple photos of Harris as evidence, including one where he is unmasked with his arm raised while speaking to a police officer. In another, he is holding a telephone inside the Capitol.

Richard Harris, 40, is facing multiple charges in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building. (BSO/U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida)

According to the detention order, Harris told the officer in the first photo that police were outnumbered and that there are “a f***ing million of us out there,” and that they were “listening to Trump.”

Prosecutors said the officer feared for his safety and stepped aside, allowing the mob to enter the Capitol.

Prosecutors said Harris was captured on video inside the Capitol asking where Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was and saying, “We’re coming for you, you b****!”

They said he was also filmed asking where Vice President Mike Pence was.

According to the detention order he also stated, “We’re coming for you too, you f***ing traitor!”

Richard Harris holds up his hand as he speaks to a police officer inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida)

A third photo of Harris taken inside the Capitol shows him on a pedestal with his arm around a statue of former President Gerald Ford. According to the document, the statue was wearing a red MAGA hat and had a Trump flag tucked beneath its arm.

Prosecutors said there are at least 19 videos or photographs of Harris that were captured by Capitol security cameras.

Prosecutors said Harris was identified shortly after the riot, but he has evaded arrest by traveling by car through eight different states from Arizona to Florida.

They said wanted posters and Be on the Lookouts were posted around the country and on the FBI’s website, which led to several people contacting the FBI to identify Harris as the suspect.

Richard Harris speaks on a telephone inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida)

According to court documents, Harris, who is originally from California, has been living out of his car since the riots. On March 18, his license plate was pinged by a camera in Hollywood.

Police followed him to a Comfort Suites in Dania Beach, where the FBI eventually took him into custody.

Harris was arrested on charges of assaulting, resisting, impeding officers, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering a restricted building, disorderly/disruptive conduct in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

He is being held at the Broward County Main Jail on a Marshals hold.


About the Authors

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

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