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Covington man arrested, faces 6 charges in connection with riots at US Capitol

Authorities believe he’s one of the individuals who helped destroy equipment belonging to members of the media

ROANOKE, Va. – A fourth Southwest Virginia man is now charged in connection with the riots at the U.S. Capitol in January.

Joshua Haynes, 39, of Covington, was arrested Thursday on six federal charges.

10 News attended his federal court proceedings in Roanoke following his arrest.

Haynes is now on probation and will not be allowed to leave the federally-recognized Western District of Virginia and will receive a court-appointed attorney.

The judge ruled that he would undergo a mental health evaluation and during the hearing, it was revealed that he has a history of anger problems and bipolar disorder.

Moving forward, all his hearings will be in Washington, D.C. and his next hearing is scheduled for July 8 and he will appear via Zoom.

He was released Thursday on a $10,000 bond.

The criminal complaint against Haynes revealed that authorities believe he was one of the individuals responsible for helping destroy equipment belonging to the media and is the individual wearing the Harley Davidson jacket in the below video.

Authorities believe that he then later entered the U.S. Capitol and video captured him in the Capitol Crypt, still wearing the Harley Davidson jacket with a yellow bandana around his neck and an American flag bandana tied around his left bicep.

Another video shows the man authorities believe is Haynes helping to remove an air-conditioning unit from a building outside the U.S. Capitol.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Photos labeled by the FBI as 203-AOM A, 203-AOM B, 203-AOM C and 203-AOM D (FBI)

On February 6, the FBI received a tip that the man depicted in each of the photos above was indeed Joshua Haynes by matching those photos to that of a Parler profile.

While the FBI agent wasn’t able to directly interact with that profile, court records show that Parler records provided an email address, phone number and an IP address that resolved to Covington, Virginia, in connection with that account.

Verizon subscriber records also show that the phone number is associated with Haynes, according to the criminal complaint.

Cell phone records also showed that the phone associated with that number went from Covington to Washington, D.C. and the timeline matches up with the location of the photos and videos believed to be Haynes.

Authorities said they could also see that he sent multiple text messages and selfies to others showing him inside the U.S. Capitol. Below are the selfies included in the criminal complaint.

Selfies the FBI says Joshua Haynes took and sent to others on Jan. 6, 2021. (FBI)

The criminal complaint also shows that on Feb. 14, Haynes had a text conversation with someone, sending that person the image below, along with the message “erase immediately.”

On June 14, law enforcement officers interviewed Haynes and out the outset, told him he was not under arrest and that he was free to end it at will, according to the criminal complaint.

Haynes told them that, “he was not comfortable talking about the events at the U.S. Capitol or the clothing worn by him that day,” according to the criminal complaint.

He also told officers that “he believes that those who did use force against law enforcement officers that day to stop the election from being stolen are ‘heroes.’ Haynes stated that he respects those individuals for ‘having the balls’ to do something about the election being stolen by fraud,” according to the criminal complaint.

Haynes allowed agents to search both his home and his phone for any clothing or photographs.

The phone had no photos or text message history, according to authorities. When agents agest Haynes if he had destroyed and/or deleted anything that may be considered evidence on his phone, he told them he had not.

When the interview concluded, agents told Haynes that an arrest warrant would likely be issued for his arrest and, “that any attempt to flee or destroy evidence related to the investigation with his knowledge of the investigation would constitute obstruction of justice and may result in additional charges,” according to the criminal complaint.

Haynes told them that he “intended to comply with any legal action taken against him including being cooperative with a future arrest and/or court appearances,” according to the complaint.

The other three men from Southwest Virginia who have been arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riots are Thomas Robertson, Jacob Fracker and Jeremy Groseclose.