Huntington Beach man who allegedly bragged about breaching the Capitol is arrested, charged

Authored by ocregister.com and submitted by Dave_N_Port

A Huntington Beach man was arrested Thursday, Aug. 25, after a federal complaint was filed last week alleging he breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, then bragged about it online.

Federal investigators said they became aware of Brandon Cavanaugh, described as in his 30s, after looking through a Telegram chat on a different Capitol riot suspect’s phone. Someone listed under the contact name “Brandon HB Groyper” used racist and violent language in the chat, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.

“Groypers,” a term describing members of the America First movement, “believe they are defending against the demographic and cultural changes that are destroying the ‘true America,’ a white, Christian nation,” the agent wrote.

The contact name was connected to Cavanaugh’s cell phone number. Also, Cavanaugh at one point had provided a photo of himself and his email in the chat, the affidavit said.

Cavanaugh has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building without lawful authority, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building, according to the complaint.

Investigators estimate Cavanaugh was inside the U.S. Capitol for approximately 13 minutes. Surveillance footage captured a man, identified by law enforcement as Cavanaugh, wearing a black leather jacket, blue plaid shirt, red beanie, and carrying a large blue “AF [America First]” flag.

On Jan. 6 and 7, the FBI agent wrote, an account on a live streaming website investigators connected to Cavanaugh posted “HB local in DC right now!!” and “Hey HB groyper here I just got back from the capitol!! I got inside!!”

Records confirmed that Cavanaugh and one other person flew from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. on Jan. 4, and stayed in a hotel in Virginia before flying back on Jan. 7, court documents state.

Numerous Southern California residents have been accused of or have admitted to taking part in the Capitol riot last year.

cenamark on August 28th, 2022 at 00:03 UTC »

After over 18 months of hearing about their fellow insurrectionists getting caught, these idiots still give themselves away.

earhere on August 27th, 2022 at 22:51 UTC »

"We are all domestic terrorists."

CPAC announcer

Unique-Public-8594 on August 27th, 2022 at 22:09 UTC »

Brief version:

Brandon Cavanough, 30s, arrested Aug 25, Member of a far right christian group called America First. Went by “Groyper” or “Brandon HB Groyper” online, used Telegram to send racist and violent chat messages. The FBI tracked his messages having seen them on another rioter’s cell phone.

Huntington Beach is about 1 h drive south of Los Angeles California US.