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New Mexico county commissioner arrested at capital protest

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A New Mexico county commissioner who bragged about taking his guns with him to Washington, D.C. for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration was arrested in the nation’s capital.

Couy Griffin, 47, of Tularosa, was taken into custody Sunday for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. He is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, according to a United States District Court criminal complaint.

Griffin was in attendance during the storming of the Capitol, but said he only watched from the steps of the building.

“I didn’t break anything. I didn’t assault anybody. I just walked up to the top of the Capitol. It was a beautiful day,” he said in a video posted to Facebook on Jan. 6.

The founder of the Cowboys for Trump organization, is one of three members of the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico. On Jan. 14, he was named vice chairman of the commission.

During that meeting, he said he planned to be in Washington, D.C.— and armed — for Biden’s inauguration.

“I’m gonna be there on Jan. 20 … and I’m gonna take a stand for our country and for our freedoms,” Griffin said.

An NBC Washington reporter posted video of Griffin being taken into custody Sunday by police. US Capitol Police and the FBI were involved in the arrest.

The FBI wanted to talk to Griffin about his actions on Jan. 6.

Griffin told the FBI agents that “he hopes a change in leadership can’ be accomplished ‘without a single shot being fired, but noted that there was ‘no option that’s off the table for the sake of freedom,'” court records state.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Sunday issued a letter urging Griffin to resign from the Otero County Commission.

“An elected office is a public trust, and no official should use it to encourage violence and attack Americans,” Balderas wrote.

By: Nicole Maxwell for Alamogordo Daily News

Image Source- Cowboys for Trump

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