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Georgia man accused of storming Capitol shared ‘post victory’ photo online, FBI says

A Georgia man denied taking part in the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 — but federal authorities say surveillance footage suggests otherwise.

The FBI says Glen Mitchell Simon, 30, shared a “post victory picture” from the steps of the U.S. Capitol after he and throngs of other rioters stormed the building as Congress worked to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Simon was arrested Wednesday in Gainesville, about 55 miles northeast of Atlanta, and charged with “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority,” documents from the Justice Department show.

He’s also accused of “violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds.”

FBI agents said they were tipped off about Simon’s involvement by friends who saw photos from the riot posted on his Facebook page, which is now deleted. One of the photos shows Simon posing on the Capitol steps with his arm around someone wearing a rubber eagle mask.

“Feel like I took about 50 bong rips of pepper spray today,” the caption reads, according to DOJ documents. “Post victory picture after the ramming through of the capitol building.”

Simon concluded his post with hashtags “#congressranawayscared “ and “#theythoughtwewouldent.”

A video posted to Facebook also showed Simon standing inside the Capitol building and saying “we weren’t invited, we broke in here,” according to the FBI.

When contacted by FBI officials, Simon acknowledged snapping a few photos from the Capitol steps but denied entering the building. However, surveillance video provided by U.S. Capitol Police showed him “entering ... through a door on the West Front, Senate side” and later inside the Capitol rotunda and Statuary Hall, federal authorities said.

Simon was sporting a dark green hoodie, an olive green tactical vest, baseball cap, gloves and blue jeans in the surveillance footage — the same outfit he was seen wearing in the photo from the Capitol steps.

At least seven Georgians are among the hundreds of people charged in the attack at the Capitol, which left five dead and stalled the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

Jack Wade Whitton was arrested in Locust Grove last month and charged with “engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon,” among other offenses, court documents show.

Michael Shane Daughtry, a south Georgia cop who bragged that he was one of the “the first ones over the fence” during the attack, was also charged after members of his own department turned him in to federal authorities, McClatchy News reported.

FBI officials said Simon surrendered to police Wednesday and was arraigned the same day.

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