Porn Personality Bragged About Capitol Riot on Intimate Skype, FBI Says

A man arrested and charged for participation in the January 6 Capitol riot was allegedly an online "pornography personality" who boasted about the attack during an intimate Skype session, the FBI revealed.

In a new criminal complaint filed last week by an unnamed special agent, the FBI alleged that Roseville, Michigan, resident Paul Caloia illegally entered the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and engaged in disorderly or disruptive conduct in the building and the grounds around it. He was arrested on December 5 and hit with four misdemeanor charges, including entering or remaining in restricted buildings or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol Buildings; and, parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

Over 1,200 individuals have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot in the nearly three years since it took place. Of those arrested, around 450 have been sentenced to prison as a result.

While Caloia's alleged conduct and charges might not stand out from the many defendants charged in connection with the Capitol Riot, the means used to trace his identity, as laid out in the criminal complaint, certainly do. On January 12, 2021, less than a week after the riot, the FBI received a tip from an unnamed individual referred to in the complaint only as "Witness 1" that an "internet pornography personality," later determined to be Caloia using the name "God Hypnotic," had been "bragging" to them about January 6.

"I interviewed Witness 1, who stated that he/she first interacted with 'God Hypnotic' through email, and that the Skype meeting in question was an invitation-only chat hosted by God Hypnotic," the special agent explained in the complaint. "Witness 1 further stated that as God Hypnotic was bragging about his involvement in the January 6 riots, another individual in the chat asked God Hypnotic why he went to the Capitol. At that point, Witness 1 said that God Hypnotic backtracked and said he went to the Capitol for reporting purposes. Witness 1 said that God Hypnotic's comment about the events on January 6 was a 'one-liner' comment unprovoked by any other participants in the meeting."

Subsequently, authorities were able to obtain location data from Caloia's mobile phone, which showed that he had been at the Capitol building during the riot. Over the ensuing years, investigators worked to confirm that Caloia was a particular rioter caught on Capitol security cameras. The rioter appeared in the footage to be wearing "a red Detroit Red Wings hat and a white mask that ties with strings around the back of his head."

In several instances, the rioter appeared without a mask covering half of their face. A group of online Capitol riot amateur detectives known as "Sedition Hunters" had also honed in on this figure, dubbing him "RightWingRedWing." A video filmed by Caloia appearing to show himself inside the Capitol building was also submitted by another witness.

The FBI first attempted to make contact with Caloia in March. Though he responded when the agents called out his name in front of his residence, he would not open his door and "refused to talk."

Newsweek reached out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) via email for comment.