PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) — A Portland woman is facing federal charges for allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol during last year’s Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington D.C.
Within the first couple of weeks of the insurrection, the FBI’s Portland office received multiple tips claiming that 30-year-old Lilith Saer had participated in the riot.
The tips included photos and video on social media that appear to show Saer inside the Capitol building with bright blue hair and distinct facial piercings, court documents said.
Several of the images were shared on Twitter by known left-wing activists in the Portland area. One of them is a video posted on Jan. 5, 2021, that allegedly shows Saer at a “Stop the Steal” protest in D.C. one day before the insurrection.
Investigators they were able to positively identify Saer last March through an updated search of videos and photos, including a video interview from Portland State University’s student newspaper, the Vangard, during a 2019 protest outside Mayor Ted Wheeler’s house.
Court documents said Saer is also known by the names “Drakken Saer” and “Ian Anton Coutu.”
The evidence gathered by authorities indicates that Saer is a believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory, which is popular among many right-wing extremists.
On June 24, a federal judge signed a criminal complaint against Saer, charging her with entering a restricted building with the intent to disrupt an official proceeding and disorderly or disruptive conduct inside the Capitol building. Both are misdemeanor charges.
Saer was taken into custody on July 7, the U.S. Justice Department’s website says.
Hundreds of people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, including several from the Pacific Northwest.
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