A former House staffer and influencer has been charged with theft for passing a table through a window at the Capitol building during the January 6, 2021, protests in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Justice filed five misdemeanor charges under seal against Isabella Maria Deluca on February 28. Court records, unsealed on Monday, show that DeLuca’s charges include unlawfully entering restricted areas and disorderly conduct, charges that have been used against over 1,000 other January 6 defendants.
The one-time intern for Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is also charged with theft of government property for allegedly helping the crowd move a coffee table through a window in the Capitol building.
DeLuca was arrested on Friday in Irvine, California. Her case has been assigned to U.S. District Court for D.C. Judge Robin M. Meriweather.
The DOJ lays out the alleged underlying facts in an affidavit filed with the court to support the charges. It contains the testimony of a law enforcement officer whose name and official title are redacted in the unsealed documents released by the court. The officer included pictures that allegedly show Deluca standing outside the Capitol building.
The affidavit also cites Deluca’s social media private messages, which suggest that she wanted President Donald Trump to declare martial law.
“So it talks about how to save the election with all the fraud that’s happened. I can see from the notes that he suggests martial law. If Trump declares martial law in 7 states, his campaign allies could take control of the state’s ballots & overturn the results of the election in Trump’s favor. Which would be ideal,” DeLuca is alleged to have sent in a message via Instagram.
The affidavit alleges that DeLuca entered the Capitol building through a broken window, along with other protesters, and proceeded to help pass a table through a window of the building. The affidavit contains photos that purportedly show DeLuca climbing through the window and passing the table to protesters outside the Capitol.
The document acknowledges that both Deluca and her mother claimed that she never entered the Capitol building.
The 24-year-old from Setauket, New York, has about 340,000 followers on X. She had been working in an unpaid position to update the social media account for the Gold Institute for International Strategy, but the non-profit agency told CBS News it had severed the relationship with DeLuca upon learning of the charges.
DeLuca posted to X about the charges earlier on Tuesday, denying she had done anything wrong and expressing defiance:
“As many of you already know, I am facing the unwarranted targeting and persecution by the DOJ and FBI at the direction of the Biden Administration, like most J6ers. To say it’s a shock is the understatement of the century. Being handcuffed and shackled isn’t something I ever thought I would experience.
As The Dallas Express has reported, the DOJ and FBI have been labeled politicized agencies that persecute dissenting opinions through governmental overreach, particularly as it pertains to January 6 protesters.
DeLuca continued: “Yet, through it all I remain and will remain steadfast in my convictions. This experience for me, has only served to shed light on the challenges conservative Americans, Christians, and Trump supporters face daily. Whatever comes my way, though it may be difficult, I am prepared to face it. Together, we will get through this.”
Many people responded to the post expressing their support. But some, like poster Harry Sisson, were not as sympathetic. He responded, “You broke into the Capitol on January 6th. You’re not being targeted, you’re being held accountable. You broke the law.”