A former government employee was charged this week with providing false advice about former colleagues. January 6 Capitol uprisingunsealed Friday, according to court documents.
Miguel Zapata was arrested Thursday in Chantilly, Virginia, for making material false statements to law enforcement, according to an arrest warrant.
Between February and April 2021, Zapata submitted at least seven anonymous tips through the FBI’s information portal accusing former government employees of playing a role in the Capitol attack. The statement did not list Zapata’s government employment history.
The affidavit says Zapata uses a “web anonymizer” service and notes that tips are worded similarly.
FBI records also showed that the referrals were attributed to four IP addresses and that subscriber information for those IP addresses was assigned to a service provider account under the billing name “Mike Zapata.”
Records in the affidavit show he used the unknown service to visit the FBI tip line, research some of the people he tipped, and search Google for “fbi mole.”
Zapata’s false tips claimed that his fellow government employees and contractors were involved in the Capitol riots and, in some cases, shared classified information to aid the efforts of individuals and groups seeking to overthrow the government, the document said.
“None of the seven state employees and contractors were in Washington or attacked the Capitol on January 6,” the affidavit said, noting that each of the defendants worked in Virginia on January 6, 2021.
In one news story dated February 16, 2021, Zapata claimed that a colleague was involved in the Capitol riot and played an active role in organizing the riot to “hunt down politicians and execute them”. Zapata worked with the individual from approximately 2017 to 2019, the affidavit states.
In another report dated April 11, 2021, Zapata claimed that his former colleague “supported local terrorist groups such as the Oaths, the Proud Boys and the Boogaloos” and shared classified information with these groups to aid in their efforts to overthrow the government. document.
Zapata and a listed attorney for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday evening.
More 1387 defendants Accused in connection with the attack on the Capitol.