H.B. man arrested after fellow church member turned tipster reveals alleged role in Capitol attack
A Huntington Beach man has been arrested on suspicion of participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol after selfies he’d shared with members of a church group following the insurrection were reported to the FBI, officials said Monday.
Glenn Allen Brooks, a 61-year-old home remodeling contractor, was detained following an early morning raid Thursday and arrested on charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds as well as disorderly conduct and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Monday that Brooks appeared in a Santa Ana court hearing the day of his arrest. He was subsequently released on bond pending future court appearances.
An FBI special agent testified in a July 27 affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court that the agency received an electronic tip in late January from a member of Brooks’ church prayer text group, who said Brooks “boasted of his active participation ... in the Jan. 6, 2021 events at the U.S. Capitol” and shared photographs of himself inside the breached building.
In a Feb. 9 online complaint, the witness identified Brooks and provided his email, phone and home address, which investigators corroborated. On March 24, the special agent conducted surveillance on Brooks’ residence, the affidavit indicated.
During the surveillance session, the agent photographed Brooks exiting from a burgundy Ford F-150 work truck with his business information imprinted on the window, the document stated. Those images were compared with video surveillance camera footage of the Capitol’s interior that showed a man later identified as Brooks.
“At approximately 3:13 p.m., Brooks entered the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol by climbing through a broken window near the Senate wing door,” the agent testified in the affidavit, adding that the suspect was seen wearing a red, white and blue knit cap with the word “Trump” on the front.
Footage shows Brooks inside the Capitol, recording the scene with his cellphone camera. Agents matched that footage with at least one image Brooks shared with church group members, the agent testified.
“The surveillance video of Brooks entering the Capitol clearly shows Brooks’ clothing and physical attributes, including his white beard, and they appear to match the person in the selfie photograph,” the affidavit read.
Thursday’s arrest is not the first time the FBI’s investigation into possible participants in the U.S. Capitol attack has brought agents to Orange County — multiple residents, including former law enforcement officers, have been indicted on suspicion of involvement in the insurrection.
Huntington Beach resident Mark Simon was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, among other charges, on Jan. 26, and FBI agents arrested UCLA student Christian Secor during a Feb. 16 raid at a family member’s home in Costa Mesa. Other suspects include Westminster resident Kevin Galetto, arrested April 23, and Matthew Purse, of Irvine, arrested July 9.
Mark Sami Ibrahim, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent from Orange County, was arrested in July in Washington, D.C., and charged with entering the Capitol grounds with a firearm and lying to federal law enforcement officials.
Two other individuals — former La Habra Police Chief Alan Hostetter and Ladera Ranch businessman Russell Taylor — were indicted in June on suspicion of being in restricted areas of the Capitol on Jan. 6 and conspiring with others on social media leading up to the event. Taylor faced an additional weapons count for carrying a knife with a blade longer than 3 inches.
Cardine writes for Times Community News.
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