Southern Regional graduate charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot says he has cooperated with feds
STAFFORD−Larry Giberson, the Southern Regional High School graduate and Princeton University student charged in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, responded to the accusations Wednesday.
Reached by text, Giberson released a statement to the Asbury Park Press attributing it to both him and his attorney, Charles Burnham of Washington D.C., whose practice focuses on government investigations and criminal defense.
"We cannot comment on the truth or falsity of the specific allegations in the complaint while the case remains pending other than to note that even the government agrees Mr. Giberson has been cooperative throughout the investigation," the statement read. "We ask all interested parties to respect the presumption of innocence and withhold judgment until the Court process is complete."
Giberson, 21, of Stafford is charged with civil disorder, a felony, and the related misdemeanors of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds and obstructing or impeding passage through or within the grounds of the Capitol complex.
He was among the rioters who rampaged against law enforcement officers stationed in the Lower West Terrace “tunnel” entrance of the Capitol, according to a statement from the Justice Department on Tuesday.
Giberson entered the tunnel at approximately 3:10 p.m. on the day of the riots and made his way toward the front of the pack as the rioters attempted to force their way into the building by coordinating “heave-ho” pushing efforts against the police line, the statement said.
Giberson was wearing a blue baseball cap with the words “TRUMP — Make America Great Again” on it, a black and gray gaiter with the U.S. flag on it, and a Donald Trump flag around his neck, according to the FBI.
While Giberson was at the front of rioters pushing against officers in unison, one officer was crushed between a door and a shield held by a rioter, the statement said. Giberson was not charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer.
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The Capitol police regained control of the tunnel but then rioters staged another attempt to breach it, dragging one officer into the crowd as Giberson stood by and watched as the officer was assaulted and brutally injured, the statement said.
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As he watched the rampage in and around the tunnel, Giberson started yelling “Drag them out!" then cheered as rioters used weapons and pepper spray against the officers, the Justice Department said.
The FBI, in trying to find the person in incriminating photos and video clips taken during the riot and posted on social media, matched the images to a student — Giberson — in Princeton University's Department of French and Italian through an open source search, according to a court record. Special agents also found that the person in the photos taken during the riots lined up with a photo of a student in a 2019 graduation picture on a Southern Regional website, according to the FBI.
The FBI also discovered that Giberson "was referenced in various open source channels by the nickname #DragThemOut," according to the court record.
Giberson was interviewed by FBI special agents in Princeton with his attorney present. He admitted to the FBI that he was the individual seen in the photos and video clips, according to the bureau.
A spokesman for Princeton University said Giberson is currently enrolled there as an undergraduate.
The Daily Princetonian reported Tuesday that Giberson is a politics major who is a member of the university’s Class of 2023. The student newspaper observed that as a student at Princeton, Giberson had opposed the university’s decision in June 2020 to remove President Woodrow Wilson’s name from its campus institutions.
At the time, the Princeton University Board of Trustees voted to remove the 28th president’s name because Wilson’s "racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school or college whose scholars, students, and alumni must stand firmly against racism in all its forms,” according to the website for the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
The Daily Princetonian recalled that in speaking out against the change in a guest contribution for The Princeton Tory, Giberson wrote: “If our University can be intimidated by the transient impulses of the mob mentality to disregard their own esteemed standards, what guarantee is there that the University will stand firm against those who would seek to undermine the Nation, or indeed, Humanity itself?”
Ken Serrano: 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com; Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or at elarsen@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Princeton student charged in U.S. Capitol riot: ‘Withhold judgment’
