Capitol Riot Suspect Tells Reporters While Shirtless He Went to Washington, DC to 'Document' for YouTube

A man charged in the Capitol riot was only in Washington, D.C. to document what occurred, he told reporters this week. 

Chase Kevin Allen, 25, was arrested on charges of destruction to buildings in special maritime and territorial jurisdiction and physical violence on grounds in connection to the assault on the Capitol after the FBI identified him through his own YouTube channel.

Pictures and videos released by the FBI allegedly show Allen stomping on and destroying media equipment. And the criminal complaint against him says he was videotaped shouting expletives during live broadcasts and telling journalists to “get the f*** out of here.”

When asked if it was him in those pictures, Allen, while shirtless, told reporters, “I would not like to comment on that at this time. But I’m working everything out with the courts and whatnot, and that’s that.”

The FBI’s Criminal Complaint against Allen says, “Allen stated that he sometimes does things while filming among groups like those at the U.S. Capitol to fit in and cause those around him to believe that he is one of them and not an opposing party.”

Allen calls himself a “documentarian” and says he was there to document events. And he has expressed his mistrust for journalists on his YouTube channel.

“In my opinion, they’re down with the CCP - the communist Chinese party,” he once said of reporters. “I don’t trust the seven major news networks, and neither should you.”

Allen told NBC 10 he did not have to post bail to be released from custody, and he does not yet have a lawyer.

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