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Santa Ynez official and husband arrested for entering Capitol on Jan. 6

December 20, 2023

Karen Jones

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Federal agents arrested a Central Coast Community Services District board member and her husband for being inside the United States Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot. [Independent]

Karen Jones is a Santa Ynez Valley Community Services District director who ran unsuccessfully for Santa Barbara County supervisor in 2016 and 2020. Jones surrendered to federal authorities on Dec. 14 in Austin, Texas. 

Authorities arrested Jones’s husband, Robert Jones, on the same day in Los Angeles. Both Karen and Robert Jones are charged with four counts of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. Each count carries a maximum potential sentence of one year in prison. 

Video footage from Jan. 6, 2001 shows both Karen and Robert Jones inside the Capitol wearing Trump caps. 

“I was in the first wave up the stairs,” Karen Jones shouted into a microphone on Jan. 6, video footage shows. “Took a little pepper spray. Didn’t think I’d ever be sprayed by cops in my own country. I support the police.”

An arrest warrant states the FBI confirmed the couple’s identity through cell phone and credit card records; flight and hotel bookings; and physical surveillance of their Santa Ynez home. 

In June, Jones defended her actions while speaking at a comedy show in Austin. Jones said she did not do anything that she thought was illegal, and she only entered a public section of the building, not a private office or any other restricted area. 

“I have been to the Capitol multiple times, and there has never been any reason not to go in,” Jones said. 

 


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Fun fact that many aren’t aware of. While many call Jan 6 the worst attack on the Capitol, a domestic terrorist group called Weather Underground (founded by the parents of former SF DA Chesa Boudin) bombed the building causing millions of dollars in damage. And that was just one of their violent and sometimes deadly crimes:

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/weather-underground-bombings

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/28/when-the-left-attacked-the-capitol-471270


6

 “It would be wrong to give these events equal weight on the historical scale, to simply regard them as insurrections from opposite ends of the spectrum. Dangerous and criminal as it was, the bombing amounted to a kind of guerrilla theater, a symbolic destruction of federal property to protest the disastrous military intervention in Vietnam. The Jan. 6 mob that ransacked the Capitol, causing five deaths, embodied a far more perilous delusion: that a national election was fraudulent and should be overturned with threats and violence against lawmakers. “Stop the War” versus “Stop the Steal.””


Also we should hold the children accountable for their parents shitty behavior 50 years later. /s


-6

You left this part out: “Still, the attacks do share historical context. Each arose from a cauldron of political polarization and distrust of government. They were carried out by splinter groups that had abandoned faith in American democracy and would have been pleased to see the system collapse. Both led to heightened security in Washington. Thus it may be valuable to examine the events of 1971, and what lessons those days may hold for our new era of extremism.“


Either way, you’d think an honest media would have mentioned the Weather Underground BOMBING of the US Capitol at some point in the last few years.


1

“Either way, you’d think an honest media” No, Lawrence is selling his book.

Not that relevant today, lack of mention makes no one dishonest.


If the orange fascist were to win and mobilize to army to own the protesting libs, then that would be far more relevant.


-7

The so called “insurrectionist” caused no deaths, ZERO. On the other hand, while some capital police, many of whom appear on video letting in the intruders and directing them like tour guides; one of their brethren shot and killed an unarmed rioter, Ashley Babbit, extinguishing the life of the UNARMED 5’2” female USAF veteran.


From my reading it appears that the capital police officers that died were a result of preexisting health complications. I don’t condone what happened, many of these people in my opinion went there to riot and raise hell. They should face the consequences of that. It was however, not an “insurrection.” I went back to listened to Trumps speech that day and he clearly did not say go and break in , raise hell, take over the place…etc. On the other hand I believe he could have been much more forceful in his admonition to go “peacefully “ demonstrate. This has always been my problem with Trump. Words mean things, he frequently straddles the line and is quite careless with them.


Anyway, please stop the histrionics regarding January 6, it was a riot, not an insurrection,


-6

Ashley Babbit was not unarmed. She was armed with a combat knife and was destroying and breaching federal property and had been warned multiple times to get back, but she insisted on attempting to invade the capitol by force. As someone who spent six years as a “Capital Guardian” in the Air National Guard, she was well aware that deadly force would be authorized to protect the capital. Another fun fact, in addition to being a Trump supporter, she also supported and voted for Obama. I guess things aren’t as black and white as you think.


4

Wrong, she was unarmed. There is a report propagated by Wikipedia ( that bastion of accuracy ) that she had a folding knife in her pants pocket but documents obtained via FOIA by judicial watch indicate she was “unarmed.” But even if she did have a knife, folded up in her pocket. She was shot by officer Byrd while climbing through a broken window, with NOTHING IN HER HAND, watch the video.


Office Byrd on the other hand had a record of excessive force and received a get out of jail card on this one. He is a coward and is unfit to carry a gun in my opinion and many, many people agree on this point. He panicked and killed a person under the color of law.


But you go on believing the shooting was justified if it makes you happy. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.


0

If you want to have some pissing contest around comparing attacks on federal facilities, don’t forget to include the Oklahoma City Bombings, carried out by a right wing Christian nationalist, that killed 168 people including 10 children.


4

If you’re going to attempt an “insurrection”…. you do it seriously, with tanks and heavy weapons. This wasn’t one. And in truth, the whole thing was a set-up and could have been easily mollified if desired. It was encouraged and allowed to happen.


3

“It was encouraged and allowed to happen.” By the GOP, just ask Mark Meadows.


12

“you do it seriously, with tanks and heavy weapons. the whole thing was a set-up and could have been easily mollified if desired. It was encouraged and allowed to happen.”


You could say exactly the same about the BLM protests, which also didn’t involve tanks and heavy weapons. Were those also “encouraged and allowed to happen”? Do you really want our government to violently crush all protests

?


-9

So if MAGA supporters violently protest they go to prison but if liberal groups protest and riot the get a pass?… When the American people fail to see blatant unfairness when they see it the nation is at risk…


-1

I do feel some of the people who went into Capitol got carried away but I also feel this whole incident was set up by others who hoped this would happen and Pelosi who is responsible for the security declined any help to prevent this. Also there are other people who were yelling to go in and they have not been arrested. What about the lady that was shot and killed no more about her. So they track down the people who were there in the capitol bldg but they have not done that for all the Antifa

/Black Lives Matters riots where they burned buildings and injured people. Why is that not as important It is a 2 type of justice system for sure


-3

One difference I can think of, just off hand, is that the Black Lives Matter events had a much smaller percentage of violent incidents than what occurred at the Capitol. Another one which comes to mind is the fact that the Black Lives Matter demonstrators were protesting the innumerable deaths of their people at the hands of “authorities” without just cause.


But the most significant point, that you may have missed, is that they did not show up at the seat of our government and attempt to take it over.


In the case of the woman who was shot for trying to break into the area where our elected officials were being protected, you need to watch the footage of that event. Then ask yourself if you would have wanted someone in that state of mind, with that level of blind rage and hysterical behavior to have access to you, your family, or anyone you were sworn to protect. And also ask yourself how you would expect officers of the law to respond if it were the people you voted for under attack.


I am amazed that all you “Second Amendment Rights” people are so squeamish about the response that woman, obviously not in her right mind, received when she attempted to break in and attack our legislators. The guard was left with absolutely no choice.


2

Francesca, less violence? Are you joking? 26 people MURDERED during the summer Antifa/BLM riots. BILLIONS of dollars of property damage. Lives and small family owned (including many minority owned) businesses ruined by rioters. A federal courthouse in Portland firebombed. Police stations evacuated…Get real!


2

I am being quite real. Excluding the fact that several of those deaths occurred at the hands of Law Enforcement against Blacks, many of whom were actually peaceful, there was also a trial in which a minor, enabled by his mother and carrying an AR15, shot two unarmed citizens, killing one of them and he got off scot-free. And then there were the two white nationalists who killed a couple of cops and tried to make it look like the demonstrators, but they were caught on camera committing the murders. Seriously. Where do you draw the line?


But what might be more relevant to my comment as to how those BLM events were less violent would be the fact that literally millions of people across the country participated, making the per capita violent incidents minor in comparison.


Perhaps your choice of media is not reporting what you actually need to know to make informed decisions. Just sayin’…


3

Rittenhouse didn’t only shoot innocent unarmed citizens as you suggest. All 3 people were chasing him down, one tried to hit him in the head with a skateboard while he was laying on the ground, and another pointed a gun in his face. He got off “scott free” because the video evidence clearly showed he was defending himself, and the person he shot that lived admitted that he pointed a gun in his face. Also, all three of the shooting “victims” had criminal records, so they weren’t your average innocent citizen.


While the attack on the Capitol was violent and somewhat destructive to property, it pales in comparison to the totally of deaths, looting and property destruction that happened during the months long BLM riots.


-2

Burning business’s run by their own race, injuring them in protest of ” authorities” killing them when there are more of their race killed by their on race. So it’s OK to be violent against everyone else but it’s not if it’s the government ? So the rioters weren’t crazy or hostile enough for the police to shoot them They had a choice not to shoot anyone as the police did also at the riots that put their lives in a lot more danger. There is no real proof she wanted to harm anyone and I doubt that was the goal of any of the others either. The real point is no one has really looked into all the actions that day and before as I feel it was still a setup by others.


-3

What about personal responsibility? The people who attacked the Capitol did it of their own free will with the encouragement of Trump. If a house is burglarized do you blame the homeowner for leaving the house unlocked? Blaming Pelosi is ridiculous but the right knows this. They had to come up with something to take the blame off Trump and his mob.


4

Just out of curiosity, do you have any evidence that Trump encouraged anyone to violently attack the Capitol? I haven’t seen any. I believe his parting words to the crowd after his speech were “”I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/28/when-the-left-attacked-the-capitol-471270


If Trump was actually guilty of planning or inciting an insurrection, he would have been charged with that crime, but he hasn’t and from what I’ve heard about the charges against January 6 defendants, none of them were charged with insurrection or treason either.


3

Trump was charged with “incitement to insurrection” in 2021 impeachment hearings and found guilty by a bipartisan majority of Congress. Unfortunately, Mitch McConnell didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to get more than seven Republicans to vote to convict. Nevertheless, 57 out 100 senators did agree that Trump incited an insurrection. Fox News must not have covered that.


0

He wasn’t charged by the DOJ. He was “charged” by Nancy Pelosi and her hand selected group of partisan committee members, one of whom now works for CNN and another who lost her reelection bid by one of the biggest margins in history. If he had actually participated in an insurrection, the DOJ would have charged him with that by now.


-3

Bipartisan , LOL!


-2

Me and Mrs. Jones? I bet the guards didn’t know that when they escorted them into the building?


-6

Such a great use of Federal law enforcement resources.


1

Yes, when someone attacks America, EVERYTHING is on the table. EVERY SINGLE PERSON that went to Washington D.C. on Jan 6th were there to cause trouble. period. I don’t care how you felt about what was going on, the GOP has claimed they are against “Law Breakers” When you ask about immigrants. wen it comes to losing an election, they refuse to accept that they lost. THAT is democracy. accept it or leave for one of those countries that don’t give you a choice.


5

No one is above the law, good to see that the rioters receive justice, maybe the next time someone proposes sacking Congress, people without respect for our constitution will think twice.


-2

When justice is applied only to the non protected class of “oppressors”?

The hyperbole depicting the stupid Jan 6 riots is seen by the vocabulary applied (insurrection), clear political application of justice, the judicial penalties profoundly burying the political dissidents. No , this is not equal justice. It is politcal prosecution and is dangerous to our freedoms.


3

Former District 3 Supervisor candidate Stacy Korsgaden attended the Jan. 6 Capitol rally. She bragged about it.


8

Let’s be fair: Korsgaden was not part of the riot or insurrection or trespassing.


6

Don’t conflate two separate events. First, there was a rally to listen to several speakers, including President Trump, at the Ellipse on the Washington Mall. Afterwards, there was the “March on the Capitol”, a walk of approximately one mile East to the U.S. Capitol Building where all the unruly tourists terribly misbehaved and shamed themselves and the president for 3 or 4 hours before leaving. Not everyone attending the speakers rally marched to the Capitol, and not all the unruly and violent rioters at the Capitol had bothered to attend the rally.


7

What part of being pepper sprayed by police in the midst of a riot did this woman not understand?


25

These two are lucky they didn’t pull this crap 100 years ago when the used to hang people for treason.


-2

Don’t get me started, 100 years ago who would be on the rope swing the Nationalist Capitalist or the Globalist Socialist?


-9

Mostly people of color.


4

A hundred yrs ago if the people entered the Capitol Bldg I don’t think they would be as nice to the government preventing them from getting in.


3

They were breaking the law, intent on overturning the government. They are lucky to be alive


3

Do you imagine that a more violent group of rioters would have been allowed to follow thru with their stated plan to hang the Vice President and harm members of Congress and get away with it? I think we both know how much more brutal the retaliation would have been had the rioters been Black, but there are limits to what even white people are allowed to get away with. There should never be another incident where a belligerent crowd of spoiled losers is allowed to throw a violent tantrum on the grounds of our Capitol.


“Law and order party”. What a complete joke. I have never seen more blatant disregard for propriety, the truth, or Rule of Law in my life than what is being displayed at all levels of the so called “conservative” movement. I am astounded by what has happened to the party of President Eisenhower. He would never have imagined such complete degeneration of the values he upheld with such stellar competence and dignity.


One can mythologize about a mob of miscreants all they like, but when it comes to our democratic republic, reality needs to be faced. Our system relies on the peaceful transfer of power at the Will of The People. This must be upheld, or the promise of America will never be fulfilled. Anyone who doesn’t like that system needs to move to a place where they have no choice. Anyone who tries to take away my vote can rot in jail in perpetuity. IMHO.


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