Puyallup couple face federal charges in connection to Jan. 6 riot at U.S. Capitol
A Puyallup man and his wife were charged last month in federal court with misdemeanors for taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.
Scott Ray Christensen and his wife, Holly Dionne Christensen, were taken into custody by the FBI on Wednesday in Puyallup, according to warrants filed for their arrest.
They were charged Nov. 28 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building, disorderly conduct on capitol grounds, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
The offenses are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in prison and maximum fines of between $5,000 and $100,000. The defendants did not yet appear to have a lawyer representing them, according to court records.
An initial appearance in U.S. District Court is set for Dec. 15.
Investigators used cell phone data, body-camera footage from the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department and an interview with Scott Christensen’s former work supervisor at a Puyallup realty office to identify the couple in various areas inside and outside the Capitol building during the riot.
At about 3:10 p.m.. in the building’s rotunda, Scott Christensen was captured on police body-camera recordings talking to an officer.
“Dude I’m from Seattle, we invented this stuff,” the man allegedly said. “You guys needs to call the Puyallup ... Seattle Police Department.” Christensen then disappeared into the crowd.
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Scott Christensen formerly worked as a real estate agent in the Puyallup area, and he and his wife started Renovo Church of Christ in 2008, which later met weekly at Pierce College. The church appears to have closed, but video uploaded to Scott Christensen’s YouTube channel showed him giving a sermon there as recently as 2015.
MSNBC’s coverage of the attack on the Capitol showed the couple walking directly behind a reporter’s shot outside the building.
In September last year, an FBI agent met with Scott Christensen’s then-supervisor at a realty office in Puyallup. According to the criminal complaint document, the supervisor identified him in several images showing the inside of the Capitol building.
The supervisor told investigators they knew Christensen had traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a “stop the steal” rally, court records state. Video uploaded to Parler, a social media site billed as a “free speech” network by its former CEO, showed the couple at former President Donald Trump’s “Save America March” near the Washington Monument. The supervisor wasn’t aware that Christensen and his wife had entered the Capitol building.
After Trump gave a speech at the rally, supporters marched on the Capitol building and stormed inside, temporarily disrupting the certification of the 2020 presidential election. According to The New York Times, five people died in the riot.
Inside the Capitol building, the Christensens were seen on surveillance footage in the Rotunda as well as second- and fourth-floor hallways, court records state. Investigators noted the fourth-floor hallway was one few, if any, to be breached during the riot. The couple were largely seen taking photos and videos, and Scott was communicating on a walkie-talkie.
Scott Christensen also spoke with police officers in the Rotunda at about 3:09 p.m., records state.
“Which amendment are you protecting right now?” Christensen allegedly said.
The couple was inside the building for more than an hour until they were removed by law enforcement, according to the criminal complaint.
They aren’t the first Puyallup residents to face federal charges in connection to the Jan. 6 riot. Three Puyallup men were charged in June, and one was accused of committing violence on Capitol grounds.
