This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact The Epoch Times Reprints.
A U.S. Capitol Police Officer speaks on his cell phone in the crypt inside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2022. Law enforcement agents and lawmakers continue to prepare the U.S. Capitol Building for events marking the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol breech. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
A Latino woman active in Florida’s Republican Party has been indicted over her alleged actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Barbara Balmaseda, 23, of Miami Lakes, Florida, and the daughter of Cuban immigrants, was indicted on five charges, according to a court filing posted to the docket in the U.S. District Court in Washington on May 22.
The charges include corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building, engaging in disorderly conduct in a Capitol building with the intent to impede a session of Congress, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
She is set to appear for a hearing on June 27 before Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather.
In an interview with Fox News in 2021, Mrs. Balmaseda said at the time that she was the director-at-large of the Miami Young Republicans.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Mrs. Balmaseda’s attorney, Nayib Hassan, said: “We look forward to presenting a vigorous defense on her behalf as we have entered a plea of not guilty.
“It is our position that the Government is overzealously presenting charges against individuals like our client that have very little to no connections to what occurred on January 6, 2021, in Washington D.C. Additionally, we are patiently awaiting the ruling from the Supreme Court on the [section 1512 of the U.S. Code relating to witness tampering] allegations as they may have a direct impact on Mrs. Balmaseda’s case.”
Communications With Proud Boys Member
Mrs. Balmaseda was initially arrested in December 2023 on felony and misdemeanor charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Prosecutors alleged that on Jan. 6, 2021, Mrs. Balmaseda traveled from Florida to Washington to protest the result of the 2020 presidential election.
One day before her arrival, Mrs. Balmaseda “exchanged messages with several associates in which she participated in communications reflecting her belief that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen and her knowledge about the certification process scheduled to take place on Jan. 6, 2021,” according to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to a statement of facts, those associates allegedly included Gabriel Garcia, who was a member of the Vice City Chapter of the Proud Boys and convicted in November 2023 of felony charges related to the Capitol breach.
Balmaseda Seen Alongside ‘Mob of Rioters’
Prosecutors further alleged that Mrs. Balmaseda was photographed in Black Lives Matter Plaza in downtown Washington on the day of the breach.
She was then seen alongside a “mob of rioters” on the west front of the Capitol grounds before allegedly climbing on equipment that had been staged in preparation for the presidential inauguration to “gain closer access to the Capitol’s northwest stairs,” according to the DOJ.
Mrs. Balmaseda and another individual allegedly “climbed on top of the concrete stairs and up the balustrade toward the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol” before entering the building, prosecutors alleged.
She was subsequently seen on CCTV making her way toward the crypt and “pushing her way to the front of a crowd of people who were confronting a police line,” according to the DOJ.
“The mob eventually overran the police line and proceeded into the Crypt,” the DOJ said, adding that the crowd of people then proceeded to move forward through the Capitol building.
Later, Mrs. Balmaseda allegedly made her way back to the crypt and eventually entered the Rotunda, where she took photographs before exiting the area shortly after, according to prosecutors.
More law enforcement officials arrived on the scene and Mrs. Balmaseda, along with others who entered the Capitol building, was moved toward the nearest exit, the rotunda doors, by police, the DOJ said.
More than 1,420 people in nearly all 50 states have been charged for their alleged unlawful participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, according to the DOJ.
