A man arrested last week in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol had a federal security clearance at a Tennessee nuclear power, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, building on news first reported in June by Raw Story.
William Frederick Beals II, 52 of Ringgold, Georgia, was arrested Aug. 24 and charged with knowingly making false statements within the jurisdiction of the branches of government (a felony), according to the Department of Justice. Raw Story previously reported that the government had barred Beals from nuclear facilities, but hadn't yet arrested him.
Beals was also charged with 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 or grounds, parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building; and theft of government property.
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AJC investigative reporter Chris Joyner writes the most serious charge Beals is facing “comes from allegations that he repeatedly lied to government investigators, a felony that stems from his multiple denials that he entered the Capitol, despite photographic and video evidence, some of which he recorded and posted to the social network TikTok, according to an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.”
Authorities investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol determined that Beals traveled from his then-home in Tennessee to attend the Jan. 6 rally and protest the certification election and attempted to thwart enforcement of a barricade police used in an effort to hold back the crowd.
Beals took at least one cellphone video after exiting the Capitol building and recorded himself announcing in a TikTok video saying “So we officially took the White House.”
The DOJ said in a news release that “at some point that afternoon, Beals posed for photographs with USCP property. While still on the restricted grounds, Beals sat atop a USCP motorcycle on the Northwest Courtyard. He also took photos in two different areas outside the restricted grounds while posing with a USCP shield.”
It was also recently reported by Raw Story that Beals was accused of lying to the FBI about his involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.