A conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
Isabella Maria DeLuca was arrested last Friday in Irvine, California, on misdemeanor charges, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area.
DeLuca, who has more than 333,000 followers on the platform formerly known as Twitter, is a former congressional intern who works as a media associate for The Gold Institute for International Strategy. DeLuca’s profile on the institute’s website says she served as an ambassador for the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.
DeLuca also interned for former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, both of whom are Republicans who have supported former President Donald Trump.
During the Jan. 6 riot, DeLuca replied to a Twitter post by writing, “Fight back or let politicians steal an election? Fight back!”
Videos captured entering a suite of conference rooms inside the Capitol through a broken window. She passed a table out of the window. A table that another rioter threw at police resembled the one that DeLuca passed out the window.
DeLuca posted about the riot for days after the Jan. 6 attack. Several days later, she posted that she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and had “mixed feelings.”
When the FBI questioned her roughly two weeks after the Capitol attack, DeLuca denied entering the building on Jan. 6, the agent’s affidavit says.
More than 1,300 have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.
