56°
New documents have been released on the June 21 arrest of Robert Morss, of Pittsburgh, who is charged for his involvement in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
UPDATE: Robert Morss has been convicted and sentenced, you can find all the details here.
Morss was the leader of the Bull-Moose party at Penn State University in 2016, as the Daily Collegian reported at the time.
He is also a former infantryman with the US Army who served three tours in Afghanistan reportedly with the 2nd Ranger Battalion, according to his LinkedIn.
Morss was working as a substitute social studies teacher in Allegheny County at Shaler Area School District at the time of his arrest according to the US DOJ's criminal complaint.
New documents include a July 2 US DOJ filing to keep Morss in custody-- citing the FBI's apprehension of his US Capitol LEGO set-- they believe he used to help plan his route at the riot.
Among the seized items was also plans to form a militia in a notebook titled “Step by Step To Create Hometown Militia," which showed training plans for skills his ideal militia would need, such as “Ambush,” “Battle Drills” and “Formations," according to the documents released by the US DOJ.
Morss is believed to be involved in the attack on D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges, who was beaten and crushed into a door.
Patrick Edward McCaughey, of Connecticut, was previously arrested for the assault on the officer after a video tape emerged of him saying, “Come on man, you are going to get squished, just go home.”
Morss is supposedly the previously unknown man in the footage of McCaughey harming Officer Hodges, according to prosecutors.
The FBI seized Morss's LEGO and his Milita notebook at the time of his arrest.
This is not the first time a LEGO set was seized from the home of an alleged Capital Rioter.
A leader of the far-right group, Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, posted an image online of a fake "Capitol Invasion" LEGO set to the social media site Parler, as NewsWeek reported at the time.
The fake set included characters based off of the actual rioters who stormed the building, including the horn and fur-clad, Jake Angeli, also known as the QAnon Shaman.
A spokesperson for LEGO told NewsWeek, "the product in question, is in no way affiliated with the LEGO Group and the set is not a LEGO® product. As a company dedicated to inspire and develop children, we would naturally never make a product like this."
It is unclear if Morss's model was inspired by Tarrio.
Tarrio has already been arrested for setting fire to a Black Lives Matter flag, and carrying two high-capacity firearm magazines in D.C., according to the US DOJ.
He is charged with the following:
- Obstructing an Official Proceeding
- Robbery of Personal Property of The United States
- Civic Disorder
- Assaulting, Resisting, or Impending Certain Officers or Employees
Morss remains in federal custody.
Pennsylvania has the most Capitol Rioters out of any US state, with over 50 people charged thus far.
Click here to follow Daily Voice York and receive free news updates.
