A New Jersey man faces charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol after the FBI said photos from his Instagram account and security video showed him in and near U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office.
Christian Alfonso, 31, of Atlantic County, was arrested on a federal warrant in Camden on Feb. 22, and charged with multiple offenses including knowingly entering the Capitol and disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
After the riots, the FBI received a tip from a person who said they viewed a video on Instagram that showed Alfonso walking through the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and entering Pelosi’s chambers, authorities said. But the tipster was unable to upload the video to the FBI’s tip line.
Several other tips connecting Alfonso’s Instagram account connected to the Jan. 6 riots came into the FBI a short time later, and the FBI interviewed Alfonso on Jan. 11, 2021.
At the time, Alfonso told agents he attended then-President Donald Trump’s rally and that he was near the U.S. Capitol, but did not enter the building.
“Alfonso further stated that all of the videos and photos on his Instagram story from inside the U.S. Capitol were downloaded by him from other sources and reposted to his Instagram account,” the criminal complaint states.
A court-authorized search of Alfonso’s phone revealed he received cell service consistent with being in a geographic area that included the interior of the Capitol building, authorities said.
Over the next several months, other witnesses came forward and provided photos and videos from Instagram that appeared to place Alfonso inside the Capitol building.
The FBI also retrieved security video from U.S. Capitol Police that “appears to depict Alfonso in and around the area of the Speaker of the House’s office,” the complaint states.
On May 14, 2021, MercuryNews.com ran an article with a picture of Hunter Palm sitting at Pelosi’s conference table. The photo appears to show Alfonso standing nearby.
Palm pleaded guilty to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and received three years of probation.
In addition to knowingly entering the Capitol and disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds, Alfonso is charged with disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading, picketing, and demonstrating in a Capitol Building.
Alfonso was released on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. on May 7 in a federal courtroom in Washington, court records show.
A Northfield attorney representing Alfonso was in a deposition Thursday morning and not immediately available to comment.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
