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
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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. 

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