The FBI recently announced that Cortland County resident Richard B. Watrous was charged with participating in the riots in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 of this year.
The residence of Rick Watrous, who lives on 4447 Rt. 281 in the town of Cortlandville. (Photo by Kevin L. Smith)
Watrous, a resident of Cortlandville, spoke of an upcoming war for then-President Donald Trump on the Cortland Voice Facebook page days before the insurrection at the Capitol.
Here’s a screenshot of a comment made by Watrous on December 31, 2020 at 9:29pm:
Comment made by Watrous on December 31, 2020 (Photo Source: Cortland Voice).
The Criminal Complaint filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court states that Watrous has been charged with:
- Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly conduct in a capital building
- Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building
According to federal court documents, Watrous was identified through a cell phone and surveillance video. On the day of the insurrection, the surveillance video showed Watrous entering the Capitol at 2:48 p.m., and remained in the hallway of the building until 2:53 p.m.
Watrous showed federal agents a selfie he took of himself while at the Capitol. Watrous was shown wearing a red Donald Trump hat, a blue bandana and a blue jacket.
Watrous told agents he was in the Capitol for five minutes and left through the same door he entered. Later on, he re-entered the Capitol with a woman, but exited again shortly thereafter to return to his hotel room.
According to the complaint, Watrous stated the people at the Capitol “seemed like troublemakers and did not seem like peaceful protestors.”
The Capitol was closed to the public on Jan. 6 due to Congress verifying results of the 2020 Presidential election. When he was in D.C. that day, Watrous told agents he did not have intentions to make an significant impact on what was occurring with Congress.
Watrous told agents he attended Trump’s rally the morning of Jan. 6. By the afternoon, the crowd from the rally broke through doors and windows to enter the Capitol.
