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Social media influencer is charged with joining the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol

FILE - Isabella DeLuca, of Long Island, N.Y., appears outside the Supreme Court, Oct. 26, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. DeLuca, a conservative social media influencer, has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol. Court records unsealed Monday, March 18, 2024, show that DeLuca is charged with misdemeanors, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area. She was arrested last Friday in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE – Isabella DeLuca, of Long Island, N.Y., appears outside the Supreme Court, Oct. 26, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. DeLuca, a conservative social media influencer, has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol. Court records unsealed Monday, March 18, 2024, show that DeLuca is charged with misdemeanors, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area. She was arrested last Friday in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

 

 

A conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to court records unsealed on Monday.

Isabella Maria DeLuca was arrested last Friday in Irvine, California, on misdemeanor charges, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area.

DeLuca, who has more than 333,000 followers on the platform formerly known as Twitter, is a former congressional intern who works as a media associate for The Gold Institute for International Strategy. DeLuca’s profile on the institute’s website says she served as an ambassador for the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.

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DeLuca also interned for former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, both of whom are Republicans who have supported former President Donald Trump.

DeLuca, 24, of Setauket, New York, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Online court records don’t list an attorney representing her. A spokesperson for the Gold Institute for International Strategy said it learned Monday that DeLuca — who was hired in an unpaid position to update the organization’s social media presence — was facing criminal charges and said, “following further internal investigation, we felt it necessary to sever our relationship.”

During the Jan. 6 riot, DeLuca replied to a Twitter post by writing, “Fight back or let politicians steal and election? Fight back!”

Videos captured her entering a suite of conference rooms inside the Capitol through a broken window on the Lower West Terrace. She passed a table out of the window and then climbed back outside through the same window. A table that another rioter threw at police resembled the one that DeLuca passed out the window, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.

Source: AP News