Alleged Capitol Rioter Gave Himself Away By Repeatedly Yelling ‘Trump 2020’ On Plane

WASHINGTON DC - JANUARY 6: Pro-Trump protestors climb scaffolding outside of the U.S. Capitol during a clash with police in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Pos... WASHINGTON DC - JANUARY 6: Pro-Trump protestors climb scaffolding outside of the U.S. Capitol during a clash with police in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Alleged Capitol rioter John Lolos might have gotten away with it — if only he hadn’t been kicked off of his flight out of D.C. for yelling “Trump 2020!” then caught the eye of a police officer who recognized him from Instagram. 

Lolos very nearly executed the perfect crime, but his undying and obnoxious love for then-President Donald Trump would spell his downfall, according to a Capitol Police officer’s affidavit unsealed in the District of Columbia.

Two days after the riot, Lolos was aboard a Delta flight on the tarmac of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the affidavit.

“Lolos was a passenger and was disturbing other passengers on the airplane by continuously yelling ‘Trump 2020!’ Due to the continuing disturbance, the flight crew decided to turn the airplane around and go back to the gate to escort Lolos off of the flight,” the affidavit alleged. 

An airport police officer witnessed the scene but didn’t arrest Lolos. Instead, Delta simply booked him on another flight, and he continued to wait at the gate. 

Fate intervened. Forty-five minutes later, the airport officer who responded to the incident was scrolling through his personal Instagram when he came across a video of the Capitol attack two days earlier.

“During the video,” according to the affidavit, “Lolos can be seen exiting the U.S. Capitol doorway, wearing the same shirt he was wearing [at] the airport.” 

The man in the video was allegedly waving a “Trump 2020: Keep America Great” flag hooked together with an American flag and yelling “We did it, yeah!”

The airport officer notified some nearby Capitol Police investigations division officers of his discovery. Those officers subsequently detained Lolos at the gate. After the arrest, police searched Lolos’ luggage and allegedly found the same flags he was waving in the video from the Capitol, still hooked together — “further corroborating his involvement in the January 6, 2021 events.”

Lolos has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. 

Latest News
256
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Another one who’s full of stupid.

    Meanwhile, back in Arizona…

    He did learn from Donnie it’s best to blame someone else for your own fucked up behavior.

  2. Nothing unusual here, just another rightwing moron doing his thing. I assume he has lost his job and maybe even gotten evicted from his mother’s basement.

  3. Remember that Lolos was only able to enter the Capitol illegally because other rioters bludgeoned a police officer to death with a fire extinguisher.

  4. Were some pesky kids involved in cracking this case ? It seems he TOTALLY should have gotten away with it if it wasnt for those pesky kids.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

250 more replies

Participants

Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for ghost Avatar for silas1898 Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for cervantes Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for rollinnolan Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for exspectator Avatar for schmed Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for misterneutron Avatar for edhedh Avatar for eddycollins Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for brian512 Avatar for karlwlewis Avatar for godwit Avatar for moonlight_will_graham Avatar for n_b Avatar for dogselfie Avatar for geographyjones

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: