Gregory Purdy, a former Republican candidate for the New York State Assembly has been arrested, along with his brother Matthew Purdy, after bragging on social media that he was “one of the key players” in breaking the Capitol Police line at the January 6 insurrection, WUSA9 reported Wednesday.
“Today my group and I were key players in conducting peaceful pushes,” Purdy wrote on social media, WUSA9 reported citing court documents. “The game plan was to talk [to] the officers and tell them to STOP FOLLOWING ORDERS AND UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION… When they didn’t listen we pushed through (without hurting them of course) we did these peaceful pushes all the way into the capital [sic] building,” he said.
Prosecutors allege that Purdy traveled with members of his family to Washington D.C. for the January 6th “Stop the Steal” rally then led the charge against Capitol police officers with a mob of Trump supporters who attempted to stop the certification of Biden’s victory.
“In addition to the four misdemeanor counts they all share, Gregory Purdy and Turner are additionally charged with civil disorder, obstruction and assaulting, resisting or impeding police,” the report says, citing an arrest warrant authorized by a federal judge earlier this month.
Read the police affidavit below:
MORE: The affidavit for Greg Purdy is now available. In it, the FBI says Purdy posted that he and his group were “key players” in the mob pushing past police barriers (which he calls “peaceful pushes”). In one post he wrote “peep my war cry.” #CapitolRiot pic.twitter.com/OQEk1n3LcE
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) November 17, 2021