BATTLE GROUND — A southwest Washington man who federal investigators say was seen on video saying, “Our house,” while inside the U.S. Capitol with his father on Jan. 6 has made his first appearance in federal court in Portland, Ore.
Jeremy Grace of Battle Ground is accused of illegal entering, disorderly conduct and demonstrating inside the restricted building, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Grace, 37, was arrested in Molalla, Ore., on Wednesday, according to federal officials.
His father, Jeffrey Grace, 62, was arrested in February and charged with unauthorized entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds. Although the senior Grace told FBI agents he didn’t think his son had entered the Capitol, a search of the father’s phone turned up video in a “trash” folder that showed both men in the building, according to a federal complaint.
The video appeared to have been taken by Jeremy Grace inside the Capitol Rotunda at 2:25 p.m. on Jan. 6, according to the complaint.
“Just made it into the Capitol here. Oh yeah, oh yeah,” Jeremy Grace is heard saying on the video, an FBI agent wrote in the complaint. “It gets no better than this … Freedom.”
His dad adds, “God bless America,” according to the complaint.
During a call with an FBI agent on Jan. 25, Jeremy Grace said he and his dad had traveled to Washington, D.C., to sightsee and attend a rally for then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6.
Jeremy Grace said he got separated from his dad when “things got crazy” at the rally, and he walked toward the Capitol with a crowd but didn’t go inside, according to the complaint.
The videos recovered from Jeffrey Grace’s phone appear to have been taken on Jeremy’s phone, according to the metadata that the FBI examined, the complaint said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You on Wednesday allowed Jeremy Grace to remain out of custody pending his next court appearance.
Grace is the seventh resident of Washington state to be charged after thousands of pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify President Joe Biden’s win. More than 400 people have been arrested in connection with the insurrection.
The senior Grace told agents he entered the U.S. Capitol through an open door on the north side, walked into the Capitol Rotunda, decided to leave when he saw others causing damage to the property and climbed out a broken window.
Neither of the men have entered pleas to the charges. Efforts to find attorneys who represent them were not immediately successful.
