UCLA student arrested for alleged role in Capitol attack

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors have arrested a University of California, Los Angeles student for allegedly participating in an attack at the U.S. Capitol, during which he was caught on camera sitting in former Vice President Mike Pence's chair on the Senate floor.

Agents arrested Christian Secor, 22, Tuesday morning in Costa Mesa, where he lives with his mother. He faces charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers and aiding and abetting; civil disorder and aiding and abetting; obstructing an official proceeding; entering and remaining in restricted buildings or grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct.

An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the FBI was tipped off to Secor's alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 riot by several tipsters who said they personally knew him.

They said Secor was widely known on campus to be involved with America First Bruins and the Bruins Republicans, two UCLA clubs that showed support for the attack on the Capitol.

One of the tipsters told authorities that Secor considered himself a fascist and posted online that the United States should become a "Whites-only nation."

In addition to entering the Senate floor and sitting in Pence's chair, the affidavit said Secor was seen on camera participating in a mob of people pushing against double doors in an attempt to gain access to the Capitol. They allegedly pushed past law enforcement officers who were attempting to bar the door.

Secor is among more than 230 people who have been arrested and charged in response to the Capitol attack by former President Donald Trump's supporters seeking to halt Congress' certification of Electoral Votes in favor of President Joe Biden. Five people were directly killed in the insurrection, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. Two other police officers died in the days following by suicide.