MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Steven Thurlow, a 50-year-old U.S. Army veteran from St. Clair Shores, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol Building that left five dead and hundreds injured.
A tip was submitted to the FBI that identified Thurlow as someone who took part in the riot and made multiple social media posts regarding his involvement, according to authorities. Court filings show he was arrested in Michigan and is charged in Washington D.C. with violations of:
Recommended Videos
- Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without
- Lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or
- Grounds without lawful authority, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and
- Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building
What the feds say he did
A15-page affidavit from the FBI includes a photo from Thurlow’s Facebook page that showed him in camouflaged tactical gear with a “Boogaloo” patch and a gasmask, armed with a gun and a riffle. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, boogaloo is a term “used by extremists to signify a coming civil war and/or collapse of society.” The Department of Homeland Security has called the boogaloo movement as being comprised of “simply violent extremists.”
The caption on the photo was: “Ahh nothing like a new pair of 511′s and fresh set of level IV SAPI’s in the plate carrier to go ‘peacefully protest’ with.”
The document states SAPI stands for “Small Arms Protective Insert” and Level IV is a ballistic body armor plate that can withstand a direct hit by a high-velocity armor piercing bullet. Authorities said Thurlow had served in the U.S. Army from 1988 to 1991.
Several images in the document show Thurlow posting on Facebook inside the U.S. Capitol Building. The photos have been removed from Thurlow’s Facebook page and cannot be viewed publicly anymore. According to the U.S. Capitol Police Department, the photos were taken from inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6 and in areas of the building that were closed to the general public.
The document states that Thurlow had changed his name on Facebook to Stephanie Danielle Thurlow, but did not change the URL of his page, which remained “steven.t.thurlow.” Other pieces of information on the Facebook page remained unchanged.
The witness who submitted the tip to the FBI said that it is the same Facebook profile and that Thurlow’s wife’s name was not Stephanie.
According to the document, investigators with the FBI obtained records from Facebook, Inc. relating to the Stephanie Danielle Thurlow account. The account was registered to Steven Thurlow’s email address. Additionally, a phone number connected to the account was found to be registered to Thurlow and shares an address with the address the Michigan Department of Motor Vehicle Records has on file for Thurlow.
The FBI said a second witness submitted a tip regarding Thurlow’s involvement in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. According to the document, the second witness knows Thurlow personally and described him as a conspiracy theorist. The second witness shared screenshots from Thurlow’s Facebook page that matched the screenshots the other witness shared.
Investigators looked at surveillance footage recorded Jan. 6 at the locations identified from Thurlow’s photos, which captured video of Thurlow using his cellphone to record the events of the riot. Authorities said the clothing Thurlow wore in the surveillance footage matches the clothing from his Facebook posts.
The FBI said a third witness came forward with information regarding Thurlow’s involvement in the 2021 United States Capitol attack. The document said the third witness is a relative of Thurlow who confirmed he took down photos from the riot and changed his Facebook name to Stephanie Danielle Thurlow.
The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to launch a new investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
The full 15-page affidavit can be read below.