Charles Hand III, 35, and Mandy Robinson-Hand, 46, of Butler, have been charged with four federal misdemeanors related to the riot that disrupted Congress as it tried to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Brought to court in handcuffs, they were there only long enough for Magistrate Stephen Hyles to read the charges against them and release each on a $5,000 bond. Hyles told them they would not have to pay the bond or use any property to secure their release, only sign documents pledging to return to court when summoned.
The couple face the following charges:
- Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds.
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly conduct in a capitol building.
- Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.
The first two counts are federal Class A misdemeanors that carry a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
According to federal court documents, phone records show that phone numbers associated with Charles Hand, III and Mandy Robinson-Hand were inside and around the U.S. Capitol at the time of the riots.
Before entering the Capitol, Hand was captured on surveillance camera breaking off a piece of metal fencing and placing it in his back pocket.
Hand and Robinson-Hand were later seen on surveillance camera entering the Capitol through a doorway at the Senate Wing. Robinson-Hand was holding up a cell phone in her hand as they entered.
Prosecutors say the married couple walked into the Crypt and then down a stairway into the Capitol Visitors Center. They eventually made their way toward Emancipation Hall.
At one point, several people got into an altercation with law enforcement. Hand can be seen on video advancing towards them, but Robinson-Hand holds him back.
The couple then went back upstairs. It’s unclear when they left the building.
He continued on in a lengthy post to say that he was “on the scene from 1:30pm to 4:00pm” and that he “saw makeshift fencing that had been torn down,” a crowd of people “rushing the Capitol Police,” and that “tear gas, rubber bullets, mace and etc wasn’t stopping them...Thousands upon thousands of angry Americans marching onto the Capitol to protest and stop the certification of what I personally believe to be an election stolen from the American people.”
Prosecutors also add that Robinson-Hand made several since-deleted Facebook posts that read in part: “We’re in the capital. Taking our house back...We’ve been tear gassed etc.”
The next step is a preliminary hearing to be held in federal court in Washington, D.C., which has jurisdiction over cases related to the riot.
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