Three Active Duty Marines Arrested for Participating in Capitol Riots

() — Three active duty Marines working in intelligence — one of whom allegedly supported a second civil war — were arrested this week for breaking into the US Capitol building with a mob of Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. .

Corporal Micah Coomer and Sergeants Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen face various charges, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

FBI agents learned of Coomer because he posted photos of himself inside the Capitol building on Instagram, according to a federal affidavit. When agents investigated his account, they discovered messages he wrote to another user saying he was expecting a second civil war.

“Everything in this country is corrupt. We honestly need a fresh start,” Coomer wrote, according to the affidavit. “I’m waiting for the boogaloo.”

“What’s a boogaloo?” asked the partner.

“Civil War 2,” Coomer responded, according to court documents, referring to a rallying cry used among some far-right groups for a second civil war.

Abate, according to court documents, admitted that he had entered the Capitol with two “colleagues” during the riots when he was interviewed to obtain a security clearance. Abate declared in the interview that, seeing that the riot was being “reported negatively”, he decided not to tell anyone about his participation.

None of the defendants have pleaded guilty or have a lawyer listed in court documents.

According to military files, Coomer is an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems engineer at Camp Pendleton, California. Abate is a Special Communications Signals Analyst with the Marine Corps Cryptology Support Battalion at Fort Meade, Maryland, and Hellonen is a Special Communications Signals Analyst at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

A Marine Corps spokesman said in a statement to on Friday that it is “aware of an investigation and the allegations” and is “fully cooperating with appropriate authorities in support of the investigation.”

Investigators say video footage from inside the Capitol shows Coomer moving through the building with two other men, later identified by their military identification cards as Abate and Hellonen.

As the three men toured the building, they reportedly entered the Capitol rotunda, attached a red MAGA cap to one of the statues, and took a photo with it.

The trio spent nearly an hour inside the Capitol, according to court documents.