Arizona man who donned Gladiator costume and filmed melee for mom during Capitol Riot arrested

Arizona man who donned Gladiator costume during Capitol Riot appears in court

PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona man who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 while wearing a Roman gladiator costume and narrated the melee in videos for his mother has been arrested, authorities said.

Nathan Wayne Entrekin, 48, told the FBI that former President Donald Trump inspired him to drive more than 2,000 miles to Washington for the rally on Jan. 6, according to court documents filed this week.

Entrekin documented his movements in and outside the building in cellphone videos in which he addressed his mother, who wasn’t at the Capitol, authorities said.

Entrekin said in the videos that he was dressed in the gladiator costume to portray Captain Moroni, a figure from the Book of Mormon who sought to defend his people from another group that wanted to overthrow democracy and install a king, court records say.

"I made it Mom. I made it to the top. Mom, look, I made it to the top, to the top here. Look at all the patriots here," he said in one video. "I’m here for Trump. Four more years, Donald Trump! Our rightful president!"

"I don’t think you want to be here, Mom," Entrekin said in another video from inside the ransacked Senate Parliamentarian’s office. "I mean you do want to be here, but in spirit."

While Entrekin claimed that he was herded into the building by the crowd, the FBI said security video shows Entrekin didn’t appear to be pushed into the Capitol. And when he left the building and re-entered it, investigators said Entrekin didn’t appear to be pushed forced in against his will, according to court records.

Court records didn’t list a lawyer for Entrekin, and he doesn’t have a listed phone number.

Entrekin, who was arrested on July 15 in Cottonwood on two misdemeanor charges, is among more than 500 people charged with federal crimes in the Jan. 6 attack.

At least eighteen people have pleaded guilty, including two members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group who admitted to conspiring with other extremists to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

Entrekin is scheduled to appear in a federal courtroom in Flagstaff on July 20.