ATLANTA — A judge has granted bond to a Dawsonville man accused of participating in the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
A criminal complaint says a tipster emailed the FBI after recognizing Benjamin Torre’s face a wanted poster.
When agents checked Torre’s Instagram page, they found a picture of the Lincoln Memorial with the following exchange below it:
Poster: “Did ya storm the capital?
Torre: “No, and I think it was wrong that we did …”
When agents interviewed Torre, he admitted that he drove with his family to Washington.
Torre stated that he attended the “Stop The Steal” rally because he is a self-proclaimed “patriot,” during which he heard former President Donald Trump tell the crowd to “peacefully march to the Capitol.”
Torre admitted he walked to the Capitol, and when he saw people break a window and enter through it, he climbed through it himself.
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The complaint includes pictures of Torre inside the Capitol and a senator’s office.
“Torre stated at one point he saw a line of officers and he spoke to them and said, ‘We are here in support of you and we back the blue,’” the criminal complaint said. “Torre claimed he did not damage any property or engage in any violence while inside the building.”
Torre told agents he was “caught up in the moment when he entered the Capitol, and that some day he could tell his children that he was there that day.”
Tuesday, a judge released Torre on a $20,000 unsecured bond and transferred his case to a federal court in Washington.
Channel 2′s Mike Petchenik stopped by Torre’s family home Wednesday morning and his father answered the door, but said he had no comment.
Neighbor Ed Jones described the Torres as “fine folks,” but said he doesn’t condone what Benjamin was accused of doing.
“I didn’t mind the protest but I didn’t like them breaking in at all,” he said. “They shouldn’t have done any of that stuff.”
Cox Media Group
