Justice Department unseals Capitol riot charges against FreedomWorks organizer

By Hannah Rabinowitz

The Justice Department unsealed charges on Thursday against an organizer from the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks for his alleged role in the January 6 insurrection.

Brandon Prenzlin was charged last week with four federal misdemeanors for what prosecutors say was just over three minutes inside the Capitol.

According to court documents, a confidential source identified Prenzlin from video shot inside the Capitol on January 6. Investigators matched the images to his social media posts, including a March video in which he identifies himself as a grassroots coordinator with FreedomWorks.

FreedomWorks was created through a merger between the Koch Brothers’ Citizens for a Sound Economy and Empower America, a right-wing think tank. Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation later split off in 2004 and became Americans for Prosperity.

FreedomWorks told CNN he has left the group: “Brandon Prenzlin is no longer an employee of FreedomWorks as of Monday, 9/20/21.”

To confirm his identity, FBI agents also tailed Prenzlin at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in late June. There, Prenzlin appeared to be wearing the same blue sneakers he had worn inside the Capitol and in numerous pictures on social media.

More than 615 people have been charged by the Justice Department in connection with the Capitol riot.

This story has been updated with a response from FreedomWorks.

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