Woman who filmed herself saying she wanted to shoot Nancy Pelosi during Capitol riot arrested

Two women were arrested in connection to the U.S. Capitol riot last month after federal authorities were tipped off about a "selfie" video. One of them filmed inside the Capitol building and posted on social media. Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were arrested in Pennsylvania Friday in connection to the video filmed by Bancroft in which the women said that they were looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "to shoot her in the friggin' brain but we didn't find her." According to a criminal complaint, the video depicted Bancroft wearing a red "Make America Great Again" ski-cap style hat and Santos-Smith with a "Make America Great Again" baseball hat and showed them in the process of attempting to exit the U.S. Capitol building on January 6.

"We broke into the Capitol... we got inside, we did our part," Bancroft reportedly said in the video, according to the complaint. "We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain but we didn't find her." According to NBC News, when interviewed by the FBI around Inauguration Day, Santos-Smith initially claimed that although she had attended former President Donald Trump's rally that day, she did not enter the Capitol building with the rest of the mob.

She ultimately admitted to lying when agents showed her Bancroft's "selfie" video and said that she entered the Capitol to protest but had not planned it in advance. She told the FBI that before entering the building, she heard people in the crowd saying "they're letting us in" to the Capitol. Santos-Smith then admitted to climbing over a wall, going under or through scaffolding, and entering the building through a broken window. While Bancroft and Santos-Smith admitted to entering the Capitol building "for approximately 30 seconds to one minute," they both denied entering any offices.

According to The Washington Post, the women told investigators that they deleted the videos they took from inside the Capitol. Authorities revealed that Bancroft, who had sent the footage to her children, later instructed them to also delete everything she'd shared with them. Meanwhile, Santos-Smith admitted to the FBI that she tried to get rid of the videos she took to prevent law enforcement officers from discovering it and apprehending her in connection to the riot. Both women are now facing charges, including knowingly entering and remaining in restricted buildings without lawful authority, violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The women are among at least 160 people who have been charged federally with crimes related to the insurrection that left five people dead. Videos and photos captured by photographers and reporters present at the Capitol during the riot, cellular data of members of the pro-Trump mob, and social media posts uploaded by the rioters themselves have been used against them in criminal cases stemming from the attack. Bancroft and Santos-Smith's arrests come as authorities are working on heightening security measures for U.S. lawmakers. On Thursday, Capitol Police asked members of Congress to report travel plans in order to beef up protection for traveling lawmakers in the region's major airports and Washington’s Union Station.

Pelosi said that part of the threat is an "enemy" within the chamber, referencing colleagues who "want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress." Rep. Cori Bush, the freshman Democrat from Missouri, said Friday she requested to move her Capitol office away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, claiming that the notorious Georgia Republican "berated" her in the hallway without a mask. "A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media. I'm moving my office away from hers for my team's safety," Bush tweeted. "I've called for the expulsion of members who incited the insurrection from Day 1. Bring H.Res 25 to a vote."