Burger King crown-wearing MAGA rioter faces charges after lying to the FBI
A Capitol rioter who wore a paper Burger King crown over his cowboy hat during the Jan. 6 insurrection is facing charges.
Nicholas Lattanzi initially denied entering the Capitol in an interview with the FBI, but later amended his statement and admitted going inside for several minutes, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
The FBI had begun monitoring Lattanzi's TikTok account after receiving a tip from the University of Delaware Police Department in December 2020, the month before the insurrection, the complaint states.
On TikTok, where he went by "@benshapiro.v2," Lattanzi had posted a photo of himself wearing a camouflage jacket with the caption, "New jacket who wants to commit war crimes in Bosnia with me?”
On the morning of Jan. 6, an FBI agent happened to check Lattanzi's TikTok account and found a post indicating he was "DC Bound."
Later that night, Lattanzi posted a selfie of himself "wearing a brown cowboy hat, a gold Burger King paper crown around his cowboy hat, a brown jacket, a blue and red plaid shirt, and a white flag with black lettering tied around his shoulders like a cape," according to the complaint.
"Met up with the BOOOOYYYYYSSSS," Lattanzi wrote in the caption.
After checking the TikTok accounts of people tagged in the photo, the FBI agent determined that Lattanzi had attended former president Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally.
When an FBI agent initially interviewed Lattanzi in April, he said he did "not have TikTok anymore because he gave up his @benshapiro.v2 account for Lent," according to the complaint.
"Lattanzi said the U.S. Capitol building was targeted because 'We were betrayed by the people who represent us,'" the complaint states. "Lattanzi also stated that he thought the event turned violent because 'Mike Pence and Republicans turning on us.'"
After Lattanzi denied entering the Capitol, his attorney contacted the FBI agent the following day saying his client wished to amend his statement. In a follow-up interview, Lattanzi admitted to entering the Capitol, but denied he had any physical contact with police.
Surveillance video also showed Lattanzi inside the Capitol, and the FBI interviewed the person he stayed with while in DC.
The person he stayed with, who did not attend the insurrection, said when Lattanzi returned to the house on the evening of Jan. 6, he smelled like pepper spray, causing the person's eyes to burn when they hugged him.
Lattanzi reportedly described the insurrection as being "nuts" and told the person he was "hit with batons, pushed by shields, and sprayed with pepper spray upon exiting" the Capitol. Lattanzi stated that "the blood on the flag he was carrying was from someone else and was not his."
Lattanzi and the person he stayed with "went to a Chinese restaurant the evening of January 6, 2021 and ... they 'were hanging out and having a good time,'" according to the complaint.
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