A woman accused of helping steal a laptop from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the assault on the Capitol will be released, a judge ruled Thursday.
Riley June Williams, 22, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was released on condition that she remain under her mother’s tutelage, not travel beyond her hometown, and appear in federal court in Washington on Monday.
Williams was charged with theft, obstruction and invasion of other people’s property, as well as burglary and misconduct on Capitol premises.
During the hearing, Judge Martin Carlson stated that “the seriousness of these illegalities is enormous, there is no other way to say it,” but added that Williams has no criminal record.
According to the FBI, a former Williams couple alerted authorities who identified Williams in a video taken amid chaos at the Capitol in Washington. According to the informant, the young woman planned to sell her laptop to the Russian intelligence agency.
A video of the riot shows a Williams-like woman shouting at the mob “Go up, up, up!”, Pointing to an upper floor of the legislative palace.
We recommend:
Williams’ attorney, Lori Ulrich, declined to comment on the matter. Williams turned himself in to authorities Monday and has been detained at Harrisburg Prison.
Meanwhile, an FBI agent in Virginia claimed that Williams appears in a Capitol surveillance video, entering and leaving Pelosi’s office.
The agent, in an affidavit, says a video taken with a cell phone, apparently by Williams herself, shows the gloved hand of a man lifting an HP laptop from a desk. The video has the caption under “They have the laptop.”
Pelosi’s deputy director, Drew Hammill, said a laptop used for presentations had been stolen from the site.
A federal prosecutor argued a few days ago that Williams should not be released because he could flee or try to obstruct the investigation.