A Florida man whose identity was given away by tattoos on the knuckles and back side of his hand has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of civil disorder in connection with the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol
Anthony Sargent, 47, of St. Augustine, Florida, also pleaded guilty today in the District of Columbia to six misdemeanor charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 28, 2023, and faces a statutory maximum of up to five years in prison.
Sargent was identified in photos and videos that documented rioters breaking down doors at the Capitol, according to the FBI, as Raw Story reported in 2021. It was a closeup of his tattoos that did him in, bolstered with a web search by the feds that offers some insight into some of the rioters being identified.
Here's how that was explained on the FBI statement of facts against Sargent:
“Open source searches for 'Anthony Sargent Proud Boys' revealed the following Twitter accounts: @anontreborsux, @anontreborsuxg2, @treborsux. Using the Internet Archive’s 'Wayback Machine,' law enforcement was able to retrieve the profile page for the now-disabled account username @anontreborsuxg2."
“The user account page contains an image of an individual with a thick black beard resembling SARGENT. The profile information lists the user’s name as 'Sarge Slaughter' with the following description: 'Ancient City Proud Boy Constitutionalist Unapologetic no mask.'"
“The background photo for the account is a recruitment poster in the style of an Uncle Sam U.S. Army recruitment poster that displays the text: “WE WANT YOU TO BE A PROUD BOY: We are western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.”
But Sargent might not have been apprehended without having inadvertently displayed his body art. There was also this from the FBI report:
"Sargent is next seen exiting the north entrance of the Capitol building through a cloud of white smoke. As depicted in the photo below, Sargent appears to have tattoos on the knuckles and back side of his right hand," the report states.
“After the smoke dissipates, Sargent can be seen waving the crowd back toward the north entrance of the Capitol. The next open source video shows rioters attempting to break through the inner doors to the north entrance of the Capitol building. A tattoo on the back side of Sargent's right hand is visible as Sargent repeatedly throws an unknown object toward the inner doors of the north entrance.”