Costa Mesa Man Pleads Guilty in Jan. 6 Insurrection

Courtroom.

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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A 23-year-old Costa Mesa man is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 7 following his guilty plea for taking part in the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, including breaking into the Senate chamber and sitting in the vice president's chair.

Christian Alexander Secor, who was a UCLA student, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to obstruction of an official proceeding, federal prosecutors said.

According to court documents, on the day of the 2020 election, Nov. 3, 2020, Secor sent a text message stating, "We're gonna win bigly and if we don't we're taking this ship down in flames."

According to an affidavit filed in support of the charges, Secor, adorned with a "Make America Great Again" hat, was seen on video footage pushing his way past officers who were trying to block doors leading into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A fellow UCLA student identified Secor as a UCLA undergrad and founder of America First Bruins, a conservative campus organization.

Secor goes by the nickname "Scuffled Elliott Roger," which is "believed to be a reference to the 2014 Isla Vista mass murderer and (UC Santa Barbara) student who fatally stabbed his three roommates," according to the FBI.

Secor also allegedly has tweeted that fascism is "epic," according to the FBI affidavit, which also alleges he "valorizes the 2017 Charlottesville tiki torch march, which featured chants of `Jews will not replace us!"' and "states that he supports `nationalism everywhere,' and suggests Jews and the state of Israel control the politics of other governments and attempt to influence `Westerners."'

FBI agents also said he defined himself as a "fascist" and made social media posts that the U.S. should be a "whites-only nation" and invited white nationalists to speak on campus.

A day before the unrest at the Capitol, he texted someone saying he had brought a gas mask and that he "Wouldn't be surprised if conservatives just storm the police and clobber antifa and the police, but that's wishful thinking," according to federal prosecutors.

Secor made his way up scaffolding to get to the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol and got in through the Senate's door, made his way to the House side of the building and then up to the second floor, where he walked through the Speaker of the House's office, prosecutors said.

He later helped a group of rioters into the building and made his way to the Senate chamber, where he went to the dais and then sat in the vice president's seat, prosecutors said. After he left he boasted on Twitter that, "One day accomplished more for conservatism than the last 30 years," according to prosecutors.

Secor was arrested Feb. 16, 2021, in Costa Mesa. The maximum punishment is 20 years and a $250,000 fine, but a federal judge will take into account many factors when determining a sentence.

In the months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.


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