Mother and daughter from Canterbury arrested in connection to Capitol riot
Sep. 15—A mother and daughter from Canterbury were charged Tuesday in connection with their alleged involvement with the riots at the United States Capitol in January.
Jean Lavin, 56, and her 19-year-old daughter Carla Kryzwicki were arrested Tuesday on a criminal complaint issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to court records.
Their arrests came after an FBI agent with the Joint Terrorism Task Force assigned to investigate the Jan. 6 riot was tipped off to Kryzwicki and Lavin's participation in the insurrection at the Capitol. The agent reviewed social media posts made by Kryzwicki, multiple surveillance images of the pair inside the Capitol and interviewed them both in Connecticut about their involvement, according to court records.
Each was charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
According to a statement by the FBI agent investigating their case, Kryzwicki and Lavin were seen on surveillance images breaking into the Capitol and walking through the building. Surveillance photos submitted to the court show the pair climbing one of the bike racks that rioters used as ladders to get into the building, entering through the Senate Wing door and walking through the lobby and the Capitol Crypt.
In the images, Lavin was wearing a red jacket, a pink shirt and a pink hat that said "Trump." She was carrying a sign that said "Trump won" on one side, and "Don't allow 7 states of cheaters to hijack our election!" on the other, with two American flags attached to it. Kryzwicki was wearing a black jacket, a blue sweatshirt that said "Trump" and a red hat that said "Trump."
Kryzwicki allegedly posted a photo of the two outside the Capitol and a video of the riot inside on Facebook. With the photos, she wrote the message "This is history. We do not go burning down your city and stealing from your business. We come for the government officials that are ruining our country. We go straight to the source. Change needs to happen. This is our house and you work for us."
Her social media post was included in the statement to the court from the FBI. The FBI also said that records obtained from their cellphone company confirmed that phones belonging to both Lavin and Kryzwicki were in the area of the Capitol during the insurrection.
During interviews with FBI agents, Lavin and Kryzwicki admitted to being at the Capitol. They told authorities that they traveled to Washington, D.C., on a bus from Norwich and followed the crowd into the building. They both said they went into the Capitol, left, went back in and left again, according to court records.
Several officers were injured in the riots and five people eventually died.
Lavin and Kryzwicki were scheduled to appear in court in Hartford on Tuesday.
