A Northridge woman was arrested on Wednesday, March 6, on federal felony and misdemeanor charges related to her conduct, officials said, during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Kayla Reifschneider, 27, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with a felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding, and with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or on the grounds, and acts of physical violence on Capitol property, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Reifschneider was a member of the Telegram online chat group Patriots 45 and traveled from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in advance of the riot. Patriots 45 was organized to support then-President Donald Trump and discuss what its members contended were fraudulent election results.
List: Southern California residents accused or convicted in the Capitol insurrection
The DOJ alleges that Reifschneider was depicted in open-source video footage from Jan. 6, 2021, on the Upper West Terrace, yelling obscenities at police. She then purportedly left the area and joined a group of rioters on the east side of the Capitol, where members of the media had set up.
The media members were behind bike racks, separating themselves from the crowd. In an open-source video at this location, Reifschneider apparently can be seen yelling at the media. After other rioters knocked over and removed bike racks, Reifschneider was seen climbing over a small wall that had separated the media from the rioters, according to court documents.
As media members fled and their equipment was destroyed, Reifschneider cheers and is seen on the video spitting in the direction of the media and yelling expletives, federal prosecutors allege.
She allegedly then approached, lifted, and threw a helmet in the direction of another individual, and moments later approached a camera on the ground and stepped on it. She then leaned down, lifted the camera, and threw it back to the ground, according to the DOJ.
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In another open-source video, capturing the following moments, Reifschneider celebrates. She allegedly raises a middle finger, shouts an expletive and yells, “It’s been four years — I’ve been wanting to do this!”
Reifschneider’s alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors note that more than 1,350 people, from nearly all 50 states, have been charged for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, including more than 480 defendants charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The investigation remains ongoing.