A court filing unsealed by federal prosecutors details how a Texas man and his friends took an arsenal of weapons to Washington, D.C., and stole one from the Capitol grounds during the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attempt.
Roger Preacher was first charged last May with unlawful possession of a firearm on the Capitol grounds on the day of the insurrection. He carried a .22-caliber Walther P22 pistol in his waistband on the Capitol’s lower west terrace, where some of the worst violence of the day broke out.
Preacher was charged in May and pleaded guilty, but his case was sealed. U.S. attorneys told a judge there was “sensitive information” specifically related to Preacher’s plea deal that could not be released publicly at the time. With these concerns apparently resolved, prosecutors opened the case last week.
The newly released records provide disturbing details about Preacher’s trip to Washington, where he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that would end in the storming of Congress and an attempt to overturn the election.
According to prosecutors, Preacher drove from Texas to Virginia with two other men, Jason Parsons and Mario Mares. They began texting about their plans around Jan. 2 and along the way they discussed “gun laws in the District of Columbia and … knew it would be illegal to bring firearms into the city,” the documents allege.
Prosecutors said the three men drove from Texas to a DC suburb in Virginia in Mares’ car, which they loaded with a bag of weapons, and checked into a hotel to prepare for the Jan. 6 meeting. Preacher drove himself and his friends from Virginia to DC, and although the men left their guns in the car, Preacher put the .22 caliber in a holster around his waist. Prosecutors say the men reached the lower west terrace of the Capitol grounds, and Preacher spent an hour there before being separated from his group.
Back in their hotel room in Virginia, the three men discussed hearing about arrests and decided to flee back to Texas. But before they went home, they took a photo of their weapons and tactical gear and posted it on Facebook.
“Fuck Washington DC,” the caption read.
The gun Preacher carried into the Capitol is in the center of the photo, along with a red MAGA hat and other items.
Prosecutors are asking that Preacher be sentenced to zero to six months in prison and pay a fine ranging from $500 to $9,500. That would be a bargain considering the charges he faces: Without a plea deal, he faced a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to file any other charges against him.
The pastor waived his right to a jury trial. It’s unclear when he will be sentenced, but records show a joint status report on his sentencing is due by Oct. 28.
An attorney for Preacher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Parsons was charged in April 2023 with unlawful possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds and pleaded guilty after striking a deal with prosecutors. His case was sealed until September 30, 2024.
Mares was indicted in March 2023 and charged with multiple felonies, including entering and remaining in an unauthorized building with a deadly weapon, disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of a firearm. Mares pleaded not guilty and opted for a trial. The trial concluded on October 4 and a verdict from U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes is pending.
The revelations about Preacher come just a day after Donald Trump said during a Univision town hall event that there were no guns in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump joined the rioters, noting that “we didn’t have guns” but “the others” — the police who defended the Capitol building that day — did.
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Preacher is far from the only January 6 defendant who was armed in the Capitol that day. Participants in the riot brought guns, knives, baseball bats, stun guns and chemical irritants such as bear spray. Several defendants pleaded guilty to carrying weapons on January 6, including Guy Reffitt, Mark Mazza And Chris Alberts.
The far-right militia also known as the Oath Keepers brought with him a huge stock of weapons to a hotel room in northern Virginia, like the 2022 seditious conspiracy trial revealed some of the group’s leaders. The group called the members who transported and guarded the weapons a “rapid reaction force” that would be ready at a moment’s notice to occupy the Capitol if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act.