FBI Arrests Conservative Actor For Taking Part In Jan. 6 Protests

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Conservative actor Siaka Massaquoi was arrested by the FBI on Nov. 30 and charged with misdemeanors in connection with his presence during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.

The FBI arrested Mr. Massaquoi as he arrived home from a movie premiere, according to a legal defense fundraising effort set up in his name. At the time, he was with his pregnant wife, Charlotte Massaquoi. The FBI separated them and took him to jail.

“Charlotte was told the charges had to do with January 6th; however, she was not presented with any arrest warrant," a description provided with the fundraising account on GiveSendGo reads. "Siaka was taken to Monterey Park Jail, where he stayed overnight and was told that he was being charged for four misdemeanors pertaining to his presence outside of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on January 6th.”

The FBI raided his home in 2021.

The couple are expecting their first child in March.

“This family has been through so many ups and downs," the fundraising account description reads. "A circus would be a more appropriate term for the turmoil and unnecessary display of government overreach that they have had to endure.”

The fundraiser, which has a goal of raising $115,000 to cover Mr. Massaquoi's legal expenses, had raised $42,581 from hundreds of donors as of Dec. 3. Mr. Massaquoi has acted in hit TV shows such as "S.W.A.T," "NCIS: Los Angeles," and "Lethal Weapon."

According to podcast host Lori Mills, Mr. Massaquoi was arraigned on Dec. 1 and was released with conditions.

“This judge was fair. Preliminary trial next week. We are praying it gets thrown out as D.C. wants the case,” she wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Activist group StopHate posted video footage from the Jan. 6 incident in a Dec. 3 post on X, showing Mr. Massaquoi inside the Capitol building.

“He was at the threshold of the door for maybe a minute, & even helping the police direct the flow of foot traffic out the door. Crime?” the group wrote.

Mr. Massaquoi posted a link to this video post on his X account.

“Witness why I was raided 2 years ago and recently arrested and charged Nov 30th 2023 almost 3 years later,” he wrote.

Criticism of the Arrest

Multiple celebrities and political commentators have spoken in support of Mr. Massaquoi. Actress Gina Carano called the arrest “political persecution.”

“[Siaka Massaquoi] is an incredible human being, what is happening to him is disturbing and WRONG. Enough already, we shouldn’t be having to try this hard to defend ourselves from our own government! It’s sickening,” she wrote in a Dec. 3 post on X.

“Like they don’t have enough pedophiles, sex traffickers, rapists, and murderers to go after but what do they choose to spend their time doing? What are their priorities?? Harassing a peaceful protester on Jan 6th.”

Seth Dillon, the founder of the Babylon Bee, also called the arrest a political persecution that “can’t be allowed to continue.”

“He isn't just a talented actor and friend of the Babylon Bee; he also happens to be a Trump supporter,” Mr. Dillon wrote in a Dec. 3 post on X. "And he's being punished for it by our government."

Commenting on the arrest, X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said “this has gone too far.”

Podcast host Kelly John Walker wrote that the arrest is a sign that the United States is nearing a “tipping point, beyond which we will be a completely subject people."

"The Rule of Law has been replaced by something no American must tolerate: Rule BY law,” he wrote.

On the day of his arrest, Mr. Massaquoi and his wife had attended the premiere of the Daily Wire movie “Lady Ballers” in Nashville, Tennessee. The comedy mocks the phenomenon of allowing men to compete in women’s sports.

Lawsuit Against FBI

The FBI’s arrest of Mr. Massaquoi comes a couple of months after he was part of a group that filed a lawsuit against the FBI, agency director Christopher Wray, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The lawsuit, filed in a district court in Florida on Sept. 20, requested certification as a class action lawsuit on behalf of people “who were peacefully protesting in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, but who did not commit any felonies or engage in any violence, but have been subjected to unconstitutional, illegal surveillance by Defendant Wray and his agents in the aftermath.”

Plaintiffs insisted that Mr. Wray and Mr. Garland have turned the FBI into their personal “Gestapo” to “target, arrest, and wrongfully prosecute” people who protested on Jan. 6.

“While there were a few people who chose to enter and engage in acts of violence in the U.S. Capitol, Plaintiffs were not among those involved in any such conduct,” the lawsuit said. “All Plaintiffs did was exercise their right to peacefully assemble and protest under the Constitution.”

Mr. Wray and Mr. Garland also engaged in “pressuring, and coercing family and friends of protestors to turn them in,” the complaint states, comparing the events to Germans' being directed by the Nazi government to turn over Jewish people during the Holocaust.

“On information and belief, Defendant Wray, at the direction of and in concert with Defendant Garland, their agents and assigns, are doing so at the direction of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and his administration, in an effort to save their own employment as the Directors of the FBI and DOJ, as well as for other improper and nefarious reasons,” the lawsuit said.

According to an Oct. 3 update from the DOJ, more than 1,069 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 breach. They have been charged in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

FBI officials didn't respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.