Joshua David Dressel, 31, who lives west of Festus, allegedly livestreamed video on Facebook of his participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to federal charging documents released Thursday (July 15).
Dressel appeared Tuesday (July 13) in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Missouri via video feed to hear the four misdemeanor charges filed against him for his alleged involvement in the assault on the Capitol, which led to the death of five people and injuries to 140 others, as well as significant damage to the building.
Federal prosecutors have charged Dressel with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He did not enter a plea during the hearing, and a lawyer for Dressel is not listed in court documents.
Dressel reportedly told friends about his participation in the insurrection aimed at stopping the counting of electoral votes to formalize Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election. The FBI has identified a man in surveillance video from the Capitol as Dressel, according to the charging documents.
The documents say a person who has “known Dressel for years” informed the FBI on Jan. 7 about Dressel’s participation in the riot. The tipster recognized Dressel from a video broadcast on MSNBC and saw video Dressel posted on Facebook from inside the Capitol, the documents said.
The tipster provided the FBI with a phone number for Dressel, which investigators used to identify his Facebook account.
The livestreamed video from Dressel’s Facebook page appeared to be taken inside the Capitol and showed people chanting, “Stop the Steal.” The video and Dressel’s Facebook account have since been deleted, according to the documents.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for the account and read a conversation Dressel had with someone on Facebook Messenger on Jan. 6. In the conversation, Dressel wrote, “First 20 people or so to break into the Capitol,” the report said.
The person Dressel was talking to mentioned the video Dressel posted saying, “Just went to show the wife the video of you guys in the Capitol. I see ya deleted it. Smart move.”
Dressel responded to that comment by writing, “I’m proud to say I was a voice of reason in trying to stop the crazy (expletive) and calm things down.”
The person then wrote, “I’m sure ya were. I was going to tell you ya should delete it. Don’t give them any more notice to come and find you once they look at the cctv tapes inside the Capitol. I gotta say. It’s pretty (expletive) rad that you were there.”
Dressel did not respond to that message, the documents said.
On Tuesday, Dressel was released on bond, but he is restricted from traveling outside the Eastern District of Missouri without court approval. The charges against Dressel originated in Washington, D.C., where his case will continue.
Each of the charges for entering and remaining in a restricted building and for disorderly conduct in a restricted building are punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Each of the charges for violent entry and for parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building are punishable by fines of up to $5,000 and one year in prison.
Dressel is the second person from Jefferson County to be charged for allegedly taking part in the Jan. 6 riot.
On Feb. 19, Nicholas Burton Reimler, 28, of Cedar Hill was charged with violent entry or disorderly conduct and entry into a restricted building or grounds in connection with the riot, both misdemeanors. He is awaiting a court date in Washington. D.C.
Dressel and Reimler are among five St. Louis-area residents charged with participating in the insurrection.
Eleven people from Missouri have been charged with taking part in the Jan. 6 incident at the Capitol.