Instagram post leads to Little River man’s arrest for alleged role in deadly Capitol riots
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HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – A Little River man is now accused of participating in one of the most infamous days in U.S. history when thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Online records show 26-year-old Nicholas Languerand was arrested by the FBI and booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center just before 8 a.m. Thursday.
Federal criminal documents show that he faces several charges including assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds.
The criminal complaint shows that the FBI received a tip on Feb. 26 that Languerand had posted a picture on Instagram of himself at the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6. The Instagram post states, “‘Remember this day forever.’ I love you guys. Ask me about the….”
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The FBI agent investigating the case also came across a Reddit post with the same username as the Instagram account and found that the user posted the same picture and also posted a comment, according to the complaint.
The Reddit post stated, “My name is Nicholas Languerand and I am a proud Patriot. Where We Go One, We Go All. Only true fascists censor and slander the opposition. You are doing precisely what SS soldiers and sympathizers would’ve done to Jews in 1940s Germany. God is watching.”
The special agent stated in the complaint that she reviewed pictures and videos taken from the Capitol riots and found images of a person matching Languerand’s description, throwing a variety of objects at police officers who were defending the Lower West Terrace tunnel to the Capitol.
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“Among the objects thrown at law enforcement officers are what appears to be a large orange traffic barrier, a canister of pepper spray, and a stick-like object,” according to the criminal complaint.
Video from the riots also showed the suspect holding a police shield and hitting it against the ground, the criminal complaint states.
The criminal complaint was signed on April 12 by a U.S. magistrate judge.
WMBF News will continue to stay on top of this major arrest and will bring you updates as they come into our newsroom.
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