Who are Eric Munchel and Lisa Eisenhart?
A MOTHER and son went viral in a chilling photo after storming the Capitol building during the January 6 insurrection in an effort to intimidate Congress leaders.
The image of Eric Munchel and his mom Lisa Eisenhart has caused a stir on social media — with her son sporting paramilitary gear and apparently holding zip ties — leading many to believe they were attempting to take some Congress members hostage.
Who are Eric Munchel and Lisa Eisenhart?
Eric Munchel, 30, and his mother Lisa Eisenhart, 57, were one of the many rioters who were spotted inside the Capitol building protesting against the election results.
Munchel, a former bartender, was seen carrying plastic restraints and a cell phone mounted on his chest, ostensibly to record events that day.
He reportedly explained his involvement, saying: “We wanted to show that we’re willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary.
“Same as our forefathers, who established this country in 1776. It was a kind of flexing of muscles.”
Additionally, Eisenhart, who is a nurse at a hospital, claimed to have driven her and her son from Tennessee to Washington DC in an effort to protest the “stealing of votes” by the Democrats.
She slammed Democrats for having “everything – the media, organizations, the government.”
“We have to organize if we’re going to fight back and be heard,” she said.
“This country was founded on revolution. If they’re going to take every legitimate means from us, and we can’t even express ourselves on the internet, we won’t even be able to speak freely, what is America for?
“I’d rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression. I’d rather die and would rather fight,” she added.
What was their involvement during the Capitol riots?
Munchel and Eisenhart managed to breach the building and climbed over the chairs.
They both were wearing what appeared to be bulletproof vests and a backpack.
Munchel was reportedly in possession of a taser which was later confiscated, according to the New York Post.
He claimed he was at the riot just to intimidate law enforcement, saying: “The intentions of going in were not to fight the police. The point of getting inside the building is to show them that we can, and we will.”
In addition to Munchel carrying zip ties, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock was also arrested after he was caught holding restraints while storming the Senate chamber during the riot.
He later reportedly confirmed he was the man in the photos but claimed he found the zip tie handcuffs on the floor.
“I wish I had not picked those up,” he is said to have told The New Yorker.
“My thought process there was I would pick them up and give them to an officer when I see one. . . . I didn’t do that because I had put them in my coat, and I honestly forgot about them.”
Have they been arrested?
Munchel was arrested in Nashville and charged with “one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”
Most read in US News
It is unclear if Eisenhart was arrested as well.
The Capitol Hill riot rocked the nation as Trump supporters scaled the walls of the building, breached barricades, and advanced into the halls of the building, smashing windows and brawling with cops.
Five people, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, have died so far as a result of the violence in the riot, while others remain in a critical condition in hospital.