The criminal complaint against a man currently living in Girdwood, Alaska is an example of the Department of Justice’s efforts to round up and bring to justice anyone who entered the U.S. Capitol during the election protests of Jan. 6, 2021. Over 1,000 arrests have been made associated with the breach of the Capitol after a rally held by then-President Donald Trump.
The protest came as the U.S. Senate was preparing to certify the 2020 presidential election, which many to this day believe was riddled with fraud.
The complaint says that Eric Richard Staples, formerly a resident of Wyoming, broke federal laws:
18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1)- Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority
18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(2) -Disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(D) – Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Capitol Building
40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(G) – Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
The complaint says:
“Beginning in January 2021, the FBI received a number of public tips regarding the possible involvement of Richard Eric Staples, Jr., (“STAPLES”) in the January 6th riot. On October 6, 2021, FBI Special Agent Michael A. Miedona interviewed one tipster who attended high school with STAPLES. The tipster indicated that STAPLES prefers to be called “Eric,” rather than “Richard.”
“The tipster reported that they had seen various Facebook posts concerning STAPLES’s travel to Washington, D.C., and his activities on January 6, 2021. These included posts to STAPLES’s own Facebook page and posts by an individual who has since been charged with criminal offenses arising out of his activities at the Capitol on January 6th (“Defendant 1”) in which STAPLES was tagged.2 The tipster provided screenshots of the posts.
“For example, the tipster provided a screenshot of a post by Staples on January 5, 2021, that he was ‘on [his] way to the snake pit of Washington DC.’”
“The tipster also provided a post from Defendant 1 in which STAPLES was tagged. The tipster identified STAPLES in a picture within the post, which showed Defendant 1 and STAPLES standing together with the U.S. Capitol in the background. A reproduction of this image that has been cropped to show STAPLES is provided below.”
“The tipster also provided a post by STAPLES three hours after Defendant 1’s post, in which STAPLES stated ‘It is the peoples house, not Chinas.’”
According to an image captured by Capitol’s closed-circuit TV, Staples entered the Capitol through a broken window, and only stayed a brief period of time before leaving. The time recorded by the camera was one minute and 24 seconds, just long enough to snap a few photos.
On Dec. 1 Staples was interviewed by federal investigators at the FBI’s Cheyenne, Wyoming office. Staples had an attorney with him, and admitted to entering the U.S. Capitol through a window. He said that in the photo where he was holding up four fingers, he was indicating “four more years” for President Trump.
A slide show of the final four pages of the complaint is below:
Staples, after Jan. 6, 2021, attempted to erase his social media history and he moved to Alaska, but he has known he was facing arrest since 2021, as he was interviewed by the FBI that year. The arrest came on Thursday.
The warrant for Staples shows what the Jan. 6 arrest warrants look like:
Aaron Mileur of Wasilla pleaded guilty in December of 2022 and received two years of probation. His is typical of plea agreement with Jan. 6 defendants:
A Florida man, Christian Manley, arrested for similar charges while in Anchorage, pleaded guilty on Dec. 7, 2022, and was sentenced to four years of prison, and three years of probation. All of his charges and photos of him are at this link.
