Idaho man who stormed Capitol, jumped onto U.S. Senate floor is in custody in Boise
An Idaho man seen jumping onto the floor of the U.S. Senate during a riot in Washington, D.C. , last week is now in custody at the Ada County Jail.
Josiah Colt, 34, was in custody as of Tuesday afternoon on a U.S. Marshal’s hold, according to Patrick Orr, spokesperson for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
A federal court filing that was unearthed Tuesday outlines what officials did to track down Colt and gather information on him.
News of Colt’s incarceration was first reported by Boise’s KBOI Channel 2, which filmed him entering the Ada County Sheriff’s Office with another person to turn himself in.
Colt, a Treasure Valley resident and graduate of Mountain View High School, was one of the hundreds of people who stormed into the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday after a speech from President Donald Trump on the day that Congress was certifying the election victory of Joe Biden.
Colt’s actions during Capitol riot
A federal court filing was shared with the Statesman by Seamus Hughes, deputy director for the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, and it details what information an FBI special agent gathered on Colt.
Federal officials note that the vote to certify the Electoral College count was suspended at around 2:20 p.m. on Jan. 6 because of the large crowd advancing on the Capitol. The filing indicates that Colt jumped to the floor of the Senate sometime between 2:20 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Colt posted a video to Facebook, which later spread to other platforms such as YouTube, in which he erroneously claimed that he was the first to sit in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s chair, and he called her treasonous and a traitor. Colt actually was in the Senate chamber and was photographed in the seat reserved for the vice president.
“I just got in the Capitol building,” he says in the video. “I hopped down into the chamber.”
Federal officials not only took note of Colt’s posting of videos, but also said in the filing that Colt admitted his involvement in the riot and issued a statement to KBOI apologizing for his actions and calling the Senate Chamber “sacred ground.”
“[I] sincerely apologize to the American people,” Colt said in the statement. “I recognize my actions that have brought shame upon myself, my family, my friends, and my beautiful country. In the moment I thought I was doing the right thing. I realize now that my actions were in appropriate and I beg for forgiveness from America and my home state of Idaho.”
The filing, dated Jan. 9 and filed on Jan. 12, says that the FBI’s Washington Field Office conducted a telephone interview with one of Colt’s relatives, who confirmed to federal officials that Colt was indeed the person photographed going down to the Senate floor. Federal officials said there was probable cause to believe that Colt entered the Capitol grounds unlawfully.
Several photos of Colt in the Senate Chamber are also attached to the court filing.
It was not immediately clear how long Colt might be in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service or when an initial court appearance could take place.
Though he was not named by federal officials last week, a photo of Colt lowering himself to the Senate floor was included in the Metropolitan Police Department’s list of individuals labeled “persons of interest” in connection with the illegal activity at the Capitol.
According to Huffington Post, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said in a press briefing Tuesday that there were more than 170 files opened in connection with the assault on the Capitol, and that number could increase. Dozens of pro-Trump rioters have been arrested and charged in the past few days.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 5:48 PM.
