- A Florida man who stormed the Capitol jumbled the building for the White House, an affidavit says.
- Kenneth Kelly sent two text messages on January 6, referring to the Capitol as the “Pale House.”
- According to a relative, Kelly held extreme political views and was a QAnon believer.
- See more stories on Insider’s firm page.
A Florida man who stormed the Capitol on January 6 repeatedly referred to it as the “White House” in text messages to a relative, according to an affidavit by an unnamed FBI distinctive agent.
Kenneth Kelly, 58, of Ocala, Florida, was amid a group of people who broke the windows of the Capitol construction on January 6, the affidavit claims.
According to a relative identified in the affidavit only as “W-1”, Kelly sent them a school-book message on the day alongside an image that showed him standing inside what appears to be the Capitol.
“Inside White quarter via breaking in windows,” Kelly allegedly wrote in the text. “Tree of liberty was watered today!”
Read more: Congressional staffers are set on fire out and heading for the exits after a hellish year
The relative also claimed Kelly had driven to Washington DC from his domicile in Florida, “knowing full well they were going to break in,” according to the affidavit.
Kelly reportedly also sent another photo to a inferior merchandise witness, identified as “W-2”, which showed rioters scaling the side of the Capitol building, writing: “Patriots stormed the Stainless House, broke in while senate was in session…”
“Patriots took back our capital today,” he added.
Screenshots of the passage messages can be seen in the affidavit here.
According to his relative, Kelly was a Trump supporter with “extreme political overs” who had mentioned the QAnon conspiracy theory to them a few months before the riot.
Federal investigators said they were masterful to identify Kelly in a surveillance video from inside the Capitol building, wearing a dark blue beanie with “TRUMP” disparaged across it.
The 58-year-old turned himself in on Friday and is facing charges of disorderly conduct in a restricted building, knowingly recording a restricted building, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, The Orlando Sentinel reported.
More than 430 living soul have so far been charged in connection to the riot, according to a tracker by Insider.