WASHINGTON, D.C. – A man arrested for what he described as “storming the Capitol” has been arrested and charged, not only for his role in the January 6th insurrection, but also for making a threat to kill New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On January 8, 2021, the FBI received a referral from law enforcement indicating that an individual using the Twitter account “@garretamiller” posted a video from inside the U.S. Capitol. FBI agents viewed the video on Twitter, which was publicly available. The video was posted on January 6, 2021 at about 6:56 p.m. It is fourteen seconds long and pans across a crowd who is inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, waving pro-Trump and American flags. The caption to the video is “From inside congress.”
A subpoena return related to the Twitter account “@garretamiller,” where the video was posted, revealed that the account is associated with a cellular telephone number that is registered to Garrett A. Miller, of Dallas County, Texas, which the FBI confirmed through an AT&T subpoena.
Below are statements made by the FBI and Department of Justice Against Miller
The Twitter account “@garretamiller” is also associated with Facebook account “facebook.com/garret.a.miller.” That Facebook account is associated with the same phone number and lists the user’s birthday as the same birthday as MILLER. In examining MILLER’s Facebook account, there are many posts relating to his involvement in criminal activities at the Capitol. For example, on January 2, 2021, MILLER posted to Facebook, “I am about to drive across the country for this trump shit. On Monday . . . Some crazy shit going to happen this week. Dollar might collapse. . . . civil war could start . . . not sure what to do in DC.” He also stated on January 3, 2021, that he was bring with him “a grappling hook and rope and a level 3 vest. Helmets mouth guard and bump cap,” but last time he came to D.C. for a pro-Trump rally he “had a lot of guns” with him. On January 6, 2021, MILLER posted a selfie to his Facebook account garret.a.miller. In the selfie he is wearing a pro-Trump red hat and appears to be standing in a grassy area:
After MILLER posted the selfie above showing him inside the U.S. Capitol building, an individual on Facebook commented, “bro you got in?! Nice!,” to which MILLER replied, “just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol.” Additionally, surveillance video from inside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, shows MILLER in the Capitol Rotunda at about 2:46 p.m. Screenshots from the video are below:
Also, when asked on Facebook, “were you in the building?,” MILLER responded, “Yah . . . we charged . . . We where [sic] going in . . . No matter what . . . Decided before the trump speech . . . I charged the back gates myself with an anti masker.” In addition to his Facebook posts, MILLER also posted about his activities at the Capitol on Twitter. On January 6, 2021, MILLER repeatedly posted comments on Twitter using his Twitter account (@garretamiller). In one tweet, an individual posted, “The people storming The Capitol are not Patriots. They are PAID INFILTRATORS,” to which MILLER responded, “Nah we stormed it. We where [sic] gentle. We where [sic] unarmed. We knew what had to be done. A beautiful soul was lost today. We must know her name. She will not be forgotten.”
In another, a Baptist pastor tweeted, “I am deeply saddened by what took place in our nation’s capital [sic] today. Our country is in trouble. We need God’s healing and we need God’s help. Pray for peace and the protection of our nation. Let’s come together—on our knees.” MILLER responded, “It was Beutiful [sic]. Wake the fuck up already!”
In a string of tweets to a U.S. House of Representatives member, MILLER first claims, “We acted with honor and we where [sic] not armed. We where [sic] gentle with the police. They murdered a child.” He then further directed, “Assassinate [House member].”
On January 16, 2021, MILLER again got into a discussion on Facebook, about the USCP officer and said that the officer is “not going to survive long.” MILLER claimed that “millions” of people agree with him that the officer “deserve[s] to die” “so its [sic] huntin season.” He then says that the woman who was killed “was a sister in battle were bravery achieve victory and she paid the ultimate price. . . . Dead serious she fought fir [sic] me, now I fight fir [sic] her[.]” He later claimed, “Well we got the traitor cop as a target and as long as we don’t shoot him we don’t get accused of firing the first shot. He shot first. His death prevents civil war by liberal history teller arguments.” On January 15, 2021, MILLER admitted in a Facebook chat that he is “happy to make death threats so I been just off the rails tonight lol,” and is “happy to be banned now [from Twitter].” When asked whether the police know his name, he responded, “[I]t might be time for me to …. Be hard to locate.” On January 15, 2021, FBI agents obtained a search warrant for MILLER’s cellphone number, the same number associated with his Facebook account, for prospective cell site and Global Positioning System (GPS) data. That same day, prospective location data showed the phone inside the house where MILLER lives according to a law enforcement database. MILLER had previously identified this same address as his home address in a Facebook chat from January 2, 2021. FBI agents also confirmed the next day that a van which is registered to MILLER, was parked in the driveway of the house.