PORTLAND – Federal agents arrested a Washington man who is accused of breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, pushing past law enforcement and entering the Senate gallery.
Marc Anthony Bru, 41, was arrested Tuesday in Vancouver and made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Portland Wednesday afternoon.
An arrest warrant affidavit contains photos and video screenshots that captured Bru flashing the “OK” white power hand symbol while attending a pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, then marching with a crowd to the U.S. Capitol before pushing past a line of law enforcement outside the building.
One photo shows Bru dressed in a black zipped-up sweatshirt, with plastic swim goggles around his neck and the black antenna of a walkie-talkie radio clipped to the inside of his sweatshirt while standing amid a crowd inside the U.S. Capitol, FBI agent Julianna Dippold wrote in the affidavit.
About 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, video footage shows Bru enter the Senate Gallery and later exit, according to the affidavit.
More than 300 people have been charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot, including two brothers arrested last week in Oregon. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges. The riot temporarily halted members of Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 Electoral College vote as they were forced to evacuate the House and Senate chambers while police struggled to hold back the intruders.
The FBI learned of Bru’s presence largely through tips, according to the affidavit.
Someone contacted the FBI National Threat Operations Center in February to report that Bru had traveled to the nation’s capital and had said he was headed there to “witness history in the making,” the affidavit said.
When the tipster asked for more details, Bru reportedly said, “you are about to see, it’s going to be big,” according to the affidavit. The tipster also alerted the FBI to video from Bru’s Facebook page that showed him at or near the U.S. Capitol on that day.
The FBI’s affidavit also cited photos of Bru aiming a handgun in his right hand, flashing the “OK” symbol with a yellow-and-black Proud Boy logo that was shared on the Twitter account of the Pacific Northwest Resistance, described as an anti-fascist movement.
Bru is charged in federal court in the District of Columbia with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and obstruction of Justice and Congress.
Oregon’s U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You ordered Bru’s pretrial release with GPS monitoring, over the objection of a federal prosecutor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Cadotte read a recent message that Bru sent, which was intercepted by law enforcement, in which he talked about outnumbering officers, being “done with them,” in a way that no “NGs,” or National Guards members “would be dispatched from DC to come put out this fire,” no matter what judges say from the bench. It’s unclear how the message was issued or to whom.
Cadotte argued that the recent message “displays a wanton disregard for any type of authority, or laws we have in place. People were injured at the Capitol on January 6. People died, and he is attempting to corral people to effectuate the same type of visceral and damage in Portland.”
She also argued that Bru had a firearm in his waistband when arrested and carrying guns in photos on social media.
Yet the judge found Bru has long-standing communities ties and family in the area, and some evidence of employment. She ordered his release with GPS monitoring. He must stay away from the District of Columbia, surrender travel documents and not possess any firearms , the judge ordered.
Bru’s arrest in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol follows the arrests last week of two brothers in Oregon, Jonathanpeter and Matthew Klein, who remain in custody and face charges of conspiracy to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results for Joe Biden. Another man with Oregon ties, Richard L. Harris, 40, was arrested on March 18 in Florida in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
