‘Your house now.’ Kentucky man was welcomed by a cop while storming Capitol, FBI says
A Kentucky man facing federal charges for allegedly participating in the U.S. Capitol siege told the FBI that a police officer shook his hand and said, “It’s your house now.”
Robert Bauer has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, according to a criminal complaint filed against him in federal court on Thursday.
Bauer was questioned by FBI agents and told the agents that he and his wife traveled to Washington, D.C., from Kentucky to attend President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally, according to a criminal complaint.
Bauer told investigators that he and his wife went to the rally with his cousin, Edward Hemenway, who lived in Virginia, according to the criminal complaint. Hemenway faces the same charges as his cousin. Bauer and his wife stayed with Hemenway from Jan. 1 to Jan. 5 and then got a hotel closer to the Capitol.
Bauer recalled to investigators that during the rally, Trump said “something about taking Pennsylvania Avenue,” according to the criminal complaint. According to an affidavit written by Special Agent Jennifer Whitaker, Bauer reiterated that he marched to the U.S. Capitol because President Trump said to do so.
Bauer’s wife wanted to go back to their D.C. hotel, so she didn’t join the men as they headed toward the Capitol, according to the criminal complaint.
The men encountered officers in SWAT gear, but they continued toward the Capitol building. They joined others and followed them through the doors of the building, according to the complaint.
Both Hemenway and Bauer recalled encountering a police officer once they got inside. That officer shook Bauer’s hand and told him the Capitol was “your house now, man” before giving Hemenway a half hug, according to the criminal complaint.
“Bauer believed that the policeman was acting out of fear,” the FBI affidavit filed in the case said.
But some Capitol police officers were separately being investigated to determine if they helped or were sympathetic to the rioters. Others were brutally beaten by the crowd as it moved on and in the Capitol.
Bauer showed the investigators photos that he took with his phone while he was inside the building and agreed to send some of them to one of the agents, according to the criminal complaint.
Bauer said he went into the Capitol because he wanted to “occupy the space,” according to the criminal complaint. He claimed he had no intention of harming any police officers, and he also said he didn’t know Congress was in session.
“Bauer explained that people in the crowd were angry about pedophiles, the news cycle, and losing their businesses during the lockdown,” the criminal complaint read. Some of those seen at the Capitol in photos and videos displayed QAnon logos, a conspiracy theorists group that has baselessly claimed that President Donald Trump is fighting against Democratic pedophile rings.
Bauer said he remembered leaving the Capitol about 3 p.m. on Jan. 6. He told investigators that he and his wife flew back to Kentucky the next day because they missed their 5 p.m. flight on Jan. 6.
The FBI was tipped off about Bauer’s alleged involvement on Jan. 7 when an unknown man called the National Threat Operations Center and accused Bauer of attending the rally and breaching the Capitol. The caller said Bauer had posted photos of the riot on his Facebook page.
Two FBI agents interviewed Bauer the next day at his workplace, which wasn’t disclosed in the criminal complaint. His hometown also wasn’t disclosed.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 3:38 PM.