A New Jersey corrections officer took an “emergency holiday” to travel to Washington, DC, with a friend and take part in the “Stop the Steal” rally and deadly riot at the US Capitol, according to a report.
Marissa Suarez, a probationary officer at the Monmouth County Corrections Facility, was scheduled to work on Jan. 6 but used an “emergency holiday” to head to the nation’s capital, NJ.com reported.
She allegedly drove her Jeep Wrangler to DC along with Patricia Todisco, according to an FBI special agent.
Surveillance footage, videos and images from the insurrection placed the two women inside the Capitol building beginning around 3 p.m. that day, according to the agent.
Text messages from Suarez’s phone also placed them in the building.
“Sooo we’ve stormed Capitol Hill lol,” read one message sent from Suarez’s phone at 3:20 p.m. that day, the federal agent said.
In one clip shot outside the Capitol, Suarez can be heard shouting, “Stop the steal!,” according to the affidavit.
Texts from her phone the following day indicate the women were counting on then-Vice President Mike Pence taking unconstitutional action to overturn the results of the election, NJ.com reported.
“When we found out pence f—- us, we all stormed the Capitol building and everyone forced entry and started breaking s—-.. it was a like a scene out of a movie,” one of the alleged texts read.
Based on footage posted on Twitter after the attack, Todisco is believed to have been in the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), NJ.com reported.
The feds learned of Suarez’s participation in the riot after the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office passed along a tip from the Union Beach Police Department, the outlet reported.
Suarez resigned from her position at the jail after she and Todisco were charged Friday with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, as well as entering a restricted building or grounds.