Christian Secor is a UCLA student who has been charged in the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot after he was caught in photos sitting in the vice president’s Senate chair, the FBI says.
Secor was arrested in California on February 16, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Age
He is 22 years old.
Christian Secor Charged
Secor was seen in videos and photos sitting in the chair previously occupied by Vice President Mike Pence, the FBI said in a criminal complaint.
He was also seen carrying a flag throughout the Capitol and onto the Senate floor after breaching the building during the siege, FBI agents said.
Secor and UCLA have not commented about his arrest. It was not immediately clear if Secor has hired an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
The case against Secor was unsealed on February 17 after he appeared in court for the first time.
Charges
According to the FBI, agents received tips about Secor to the FBI media submission portal and the FBI tipline between January 17 and January 22.
At least 11 tipsters identified Secor as one of the riot participants who had entered the U.S. Capitol during the pro-Trump siege on the day a joint session of Congress, overseen by Vice President Mike Pence, was set to certify President Joe Biden as the 2020 election winner.
The FBI wrote in a criminal complaint filed in Secor’s case, “These tipsters provided images and videos of Secor inside the U.S. Capitol Building, both standing on the floor of the Senate chamber, and sitting in the Chair of the Presiding Officer on the upper tier of the two-tiered dais at the head of the Senate chamber.
THREAD and call for an investigation into, and expulsion of Christian Secor, as well as SOLE registered club @/afbruins
Secor is president of campus group America First Bruins, and is an active danger.
content warning on screenshots/material to follow@UCLA @UCLAchancellor
— by any means necessary, from the river to the sea (@mattainable) April 1, 2020
This seat is normally occupied by either the Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, the President Pro Tempore or another Senator acting as the Presiding Officer.
These images were widely circulated via both mainstream news outlets and on social media platforms.”
Social Media
According to the criminal complaint, Secor was identified by a tipster who is a fellow UCLA student and recognized him from being a founder of the “America First Bruins,” a far-right organization on the California campus associated with Nick Fuentes, who runs a podcast called “America First.”
Secor is also tied to Fuentes’ group, the Groypers, according to the FBI. The FBI said in the Secor complaint, “The Groypers are a network of alt-right figures who are vocal supporters of white supremacist and ‘America First’ podcaster Nick Fuentes.”
