Jason Daniel Riddle, a New Hampshire man who admitted breaching the U.S. Capitol last month, told investigators that he also stole a book from the building and sold it for $40, the FBI said Friday.
Mr. Riddle allegedly made the admission while being interviewed as federal authorities executed a search warrant of his residence on Jan. 22, FBI agent Kevin M. Helson said in a new court filing.
Roughly two weeks earlier, Mr. Riddle gave an on-air interview to an NBC station in Boston during which he admitted to having entered the Capitol during the violent invasion that happened on Jan. 6.
The FBI later visited Mr. Riddle at his residence in Keene, N.H., where he agreed to a voluntary interview in which he recalled the incident, Mr. Helson wrote in a federal court filing.
Speaking to the NBC station and then again to investigators, Mr. Riddle said that he found a bottle of wine inside the Capitol, then poured himself a glass and drank it, the FBI special agent noted.
Mr. Riddle, who told NBC that he was a mail carrier and military veteran, “admitted he also took a book from the office where he drank the wine,” the FBI special agent said in a sworn affidavit.
“RIDDLE explained he took the book from a desk, believed it was titled something to the effect of ‘Senate Chambers’ and described it as old looking, bound in reddish-brown leather, and it was ‘like a dictionary.’ RIDDLE stated that, shortly after he exited the Capitol, he sold the book to an unknown male individual for $40. RIDDLE also admitted that he stole a small Fox News football from the same office, but tossed it aside as he exited the Capitol building,” the FBI special agent wrote in a statement of facts filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“RIDDLE explained after about a half hour, he decided to exit the Capitol,” the FBI agent added.
The FBI later determined that Mr. Riddle stole the book from the Office of the Senate Parliamentarian, citing surveillance camera video from the complex and an interview with an office employee.
The affidavit, which HuffPost first reported Friday, was filed with a criminal complaint accusing Mr. Riddle of theft of government property, trespassing and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Mr. Riddle, who said last month that he has resigned from the U.S. Postal Service, told a local news outlet late Friday that was unaware of the charges against him until being alerted by the media.
“I’m learning this through you,” Mr. Riddle told The Keene Sentinel Source. “I guess I should call the cops,” he added, according to the outlet. The Washington Times could not reach him for comment.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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