Man seen smoking marijuana during Capitol insurrection pleads guilty after being arrested in Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A man who authorities say was pictured smoking what appeared to be marijuana at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6 has been arrested in Hampton Roads.

The FBI Norfolk confirmed on Thursday that Eduardo Nicolas Alvear Gonzalez was arrested Tuesday morning in Virginia Beach by the FBI Norfolk Division.

Gonzalez is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The charges relate to the chaos that erupted on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol as Congress certified the electoral college votes for the 2020 Presidential Election, solidifying President Joe Biden’s win.

On September 30, Gonzalez entered a guilty plea in the D.C. Circuit Court. He is set to be sentenced on January 5, 2022.

More than 200 people have been charged in connection with the riot at the Capitol, which left multiple people including a police officer dead, NPR reported Tuesday.

According to a statement of facts prepared by an FBI special agent tasked with investigating criminal activity in and around the Capitol grounds, authorities have used video footage from national news coverage and social media as evidence of unlawful behavior at the Capitol.

The statement of facts says Gonzalez went to the Capitol wearing an olive-colored sun hat, American flag-patterned pants, olive-colored long-sleeve shirt, light green backpack, and black fanny pack.

He could be seen in a YouTube video in the Capitol Rotunda, documents state.

The agent wrote in the statement of facts that the witness who called the FBI to notify them of Gonzalez’s identity in the YouTube videos is his family member. That person said Gonzalez previously lived in Ventura, California, and was recently renting an Airbnb in or around Washington D.C.

The first video is titled “Man smoking a doobie weed at capitol dome Donald Trump supporters.” The second is titled “The Capitol Rotunda Doobie Smoker explains why he did it.”

In the second video, Gonzalez allegedly answered “freedom.”

Further investigation by the FBI confirmed Gonzalez’s California driver’s license picture looked much like the man in the YouTube videos. The FBI also discovered Gonzalez was renting an Airbnb residence in Alexandria for a period of 30 days starting Jan. 1.

He was scheduled to fly from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Feb. 1.

A photo was posted to YouTube by a user account called “The Good Lion Experience,” which had a lion image with a black background as a user image. The witness told the FBI Gonzalez often goes by the nickname “Lion Nick.”

The FBI also has used Snapchat in its investigation into the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

One saved Snapchat video showed a user walking through the Capitol Rotunda. Part of the video showed an individual matching Gonzalez’s distinctive clothing smoking who was exchanging “small items that appear to be marijuana cigarettes” with another individual.

Other witnesses gave the FBI a Zoom video that Gonzalez recorded and broadcasted over the internet on Jan. 7, the day after the insurrection.

Gonzalez shared his computer screen in the video and showed multiple photographs and videos of himself and others inside the Capitol, court documents state.

“At times, he shows what appear to be over 50 photographs and videos saved in a folder entitled, ‘Captiol [sic] Storming,'” documents state.

In the Zoom video, Gonzalez narrated various footage taken from inside the Capitol and talks about Capitol Police actions as rioters broke into the building.

During the video, Gonzalez allegedly said “I’m showing everyone how I barged into the Capitol yesterday,” documents state.

He also discussed smoking marijuana at the Trump rally before the Capitol riot then in the Rotunda.

Gonzalez directed Zoom viewers to Twitter where he had “gnarlier footage.” The account he pulled up was “Good Lion Films” with a matching image to the one on the Good Lion YouTube account.

Based on the various videos on social media, authorities filed the statement of facts on Jan. 31 relating to the charges against Gonzalez.

A Gloucester woman was arrested Jan. 20 after sharing photos she allegedly took from inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office Jan. 6.

One man from the Peninsula notably wore a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt and another was a Virginia Beach charter boat captain.

Two other rioters were police officers from and area south of Roanoke.