LI Accountant Is Latest Charged In Capitol Riot

BELLMORE, NY — An accountant from Bellmore was arrested on Thursday and charged with breaking into the Capitol building during the riot on Jan. 6. Agents of the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested 39-year-old Justin McAuliffe at a home in Bellmore. He will be arraigned this afternoon in Federal Court in Central Islip.

According to court documents, officials say McAuliffe was part of the mob that broke into the Capitol building. They learned of McAuliffe's identity through two different tips submitted to the FBI.

One person sent the FBI screenshots of McAuliffe's Facebook page, which officials say he deleted after the riot. The pictures show McAuliffe outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. Another tip contained a screenshot of McAuliffe's phone, officials said, showing he was connected to WiFi at the U.S. Senate. There was also a screenshot of a Facebook conversation McAuliffe had with someone in which he stated he was inside the Capitol.

"Yeah I was in one of the offices," McAuliffe wrote in the message. "Some people were smoking a joint in the room,lol. Cops came in and weee like. Okay guys really? They didn't even ask us to leave right away. They let us sit down and hang out and relax."

Additionally, an image published as part of an article on Slate showed McAuliffe sitting in a chair in a Congressional office, posing for the picture, officials said.

Several other Long Islanders face charges stemming from the Capitol riot. They include a 27-year-old Huntingon man, a Long Island Rail Road conductor from Lindenhurst and a retired FDNY firefighter from Freeport.