Man identified as L. Brent Bozell IV on the floor of the Senate chamber.
A Pennsylvania man newly charged in the D.C. Capitol siege just so happens to be the son of well-known conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III. Defendant L. Brent Bozell IV, 41, was part of the group that entered the Senate chamber on January 6, according to a federal affidavit.
Investigators cited video placing the suspect at the scene. Actually, he makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance standing in front of a flag during video from The New Yorker and later aired by CNN, authorities claim.
Man identified as L. Brent Bozell IV
The other evidence is way clearer. For example, authorities mention C-SPAN footage in which a man identified as Bozell IV was on the Senate chamber balcony and moved a camera so that it pointed to the ground. This happened as people were entering the chamber floor. Authorities said this kept the camera from recording the group. Another unidentified man used a jacket to cover a different camera, authorities said.
Man in center wearing the white and red hat identified as L. Brent Bozell IV.
Supporters of then-President Donald Trump raided the Capitol building on Jan. 6 after he continued to lie that he actually won the 2020 presidential election in a “landslide.” Trump told his supporters the election was stolen.. Five people died amid the chaos: four Trump supporters, and one Capitol police officer. Another Capitol officer, a D.C. Metro officer, and a siege defendant died by suicide mere days after the incident.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation cited tipsters in tying Bozell IV to the scene. One person described video in which Bozell IV could be seen leaving the Capitol Building while on the phone.
“W-1 described the video as people jubilantly exiting the U.S. Capitol Building,” stated the affidavit. “Some of these people can be seen wearing gas masks, helmets, and waving flags. W-1 advised that at the 23-second mark of the video, the viewer can see Bozell IV exiting the U.S. Capitol Building, wearing a red and white hat and a blue ‘Hershey Christian Academy’ sweatshirt, while talking on a cell phone.”
Authorities often described the sweatshirt while parsing through the evidence. Bozell IV is described as having been the basketball coach of the girls’ team at Hershey Christian Academy. One of the witnesses said he stopped in March 2020 because the team could no longer practice or play games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is unclear if the defendant has an attorney in this matter. He could not be immediately reached for comment.
Bozell III is best known for founding an array of conservative organizations, including the Media Research Center and CNSNews. One of these groups, the Parents Television Council (PTC), butted heads back in the day with the WWE, run by Trump friend Vince McMahon. In 2002, PTC had to pay $3.5 million through an insurer, and Bozell III had to apologize to the WWE after the wrestling promotion sued for defamation, according to The Washington Post.
At the time, WWE chief executive Linda McMahon, who is Vince McMahon’s wife and who went on to serve under President Trump as head of the Small Business Administration, took issue with a PTC attorney who said that the amount would be “closer” to covering WWE’s legal costs than the $55 million initially sought.
“There haven’t been many cases of cash awards in this amount,” Linda McMahon said.
Bozell III notably condemned the Capitol attack as “wrong” and “disturbing” while also guessing that left-wing groups were involved.
“I hope there is a thorough investigation,” he said. “My guess is, when all this is over, you’re going to find that there were bad guys on the other side who were also participating. It is just a hunch.”
Bozell III also said he “agreed” with Trump’s “stolen” election falsehood.
“This is an explosion of pent-up outrage from middle America. Look, they are furious that they believe this election was stolen. I agree with them,” he said.
[Images via FBI]
