Treasure Coast - Friday February 23, 2023: A Vero Beach couple has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to their conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
39-year-old Andrew Joshua Johnson, and 44 -year-old Whitney Johnson, are charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses. Court documents say that Andrew and Whitney are a married couple.
Andrew Joshua Johnson is charged with a felony offense of civil disorder. In addition to the felony, Andrew is charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering or remaining in restricted buildings or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building, disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building or grounds.
Whitney Johnson is charged with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. In addition to the felonies, Whitney Johnson is charged with multiple misdemeanor offenses, including entering or remaining in restricted buildings or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol building or grounds, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building or grounds.
The FBI arrested the Johnsons on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Vero Beach. The couple made their initial appearance in the Southern District of Florida.
According to allegations contained in court documents, the Johnsons attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., and afterward marched from the rally to the U.S. Capitol building. Surveillance footage from the U.S. Capitol shows Andrew entering the building via the Rotunda doors at approximately 2:45 p.m. Andrew then proceeded to walk through the building and is again seen on surveillance footage confronting a United States Capitol Police Officer on the Gallery Stairs.
Andrew later regrouped with his wife, Whitney, and the couple then made their way into the Rotunda and separated. Court documents say that Whitney Johnson was against the outer wall of the Rotunda while Andrew was in the thick of the crowd, shaking his fist and yelling at police. At approximately 3:08 p.m., when an altercation broke out between another rioter and an officer in front of him, Andrew is seen and heard on video yelling “What the f—?” and “Oathbreaker!” repeatedly at police and aggressively positioning himself in front of and close to an officer’s face.
As police officers attempted to clear the rioters from the Rotunda, Andrew physically pushed back against the officers and is seen on body-worn camera footage physically resisting and yelling obscenities at police as the officers attempted to push him out of the area. Meanwhile, at about 3:12 p.m., a Metropolitan Police Department Officer was trying to clear rioters from the outer wall of the Rotunda when the officer encountered Whitney Johnson behind a statute. In response to the officer’s effort to clear her from that area, Whitney Johnson yelled expletives at the officer and hit the officer with an open hand.
Surveillance footage shows Whitney Johnson exiting the Capitol via the Rotunda Doors at approximately 3:17 p.m. Meanwhile, Andrew physically struggled against police as they eventually escorted him out of the Rotunda at 3:20 p.m. Johnson continued to yell obscenities at police while he was forced out of the Rotunda. He left the Capitol building shortly thereafter at roughly 3:22 p.m.
In the 37 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit: tips.fbi.gov.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida provided valuable assistance.