Richard Michetti is regretting a couple of decisions he made back in January.
The Ridley Park, Pennsylvania resident allegedly took a break from the rioting on the steps of the Capitol on January 6 to argue with his ex-girlfriend over text message.
After sending photos and videos of the mob and boasting how he had avoided tear gas, Michetti repeated former president Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
“If you can’t see the election was stolen you’re a moron,” Michetti wrote in a text to the woman, according to court documents.
She didn’t didn’t take kindly to the insult and ratted him out to FBI, handing over to law enforcement the string of texts, photos and videos he had sent to her.
The unnamed ex-girlfriend told the FBI that Michetti had texted her on January 5 that he was taking a train to Washington from his home in the Philadelphia suburbs. Michetti told her that he was going to D.C. because he believed the election had been stolen — a false claim relentlessly echoed by Trump following President Joe Biden’s win.
Michetti was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and obstruction of Congress. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Michetti was released this week on unsecured bail with electronic monitoring, according to The Morning Call. His next court appearance by video is scheduled for Monday in federal court in Washington.