A South Carolina tea house operator from Fairfield County was arrested during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Another South Carolinian has been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power resulting from the 2020 presidential election.

Christina Prather-Fair of Fairfield County was arrested by the FBI’s Columbia Field Office in late September. She was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a building or on Capitol grounds, and marching, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, according to federal court records. , according to federal court records.

She is the 29th South Carolinian arrested during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. She could not be reached for comment.

According to her LInkedIn profile, Prather-Fair is a “tea specialist” and president of Cornwallis Tea Co., a restaurant in Winnsboro that serves handcrafted tea. The restaurant advertises itself as “a cozy spot serving soups, sandwiches, salads and baked goods, as well as a variety of teas.” Prather-Fair’s profile also lists Marymount University, the private Catholic university in Arlington, Virginia, where she was educated.

The detailed complaint in her case notes that Prather-Fair gave an interview to WLTX-TV two days after the riot and told a reporter that while she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, she did not enter the building.

However, a comprehensive review of closed-captioned television surveillance video captured on 17 different cameras showed Prather-Fair and her teenage son inside the Capitol, the complaint states. The son’s name has not been given because he is a minor.

Prather-Fair entered the Capitol at 2:22 p.m. — 22 minutes after rioters first broke into the building — and remained there until 2:49 p.m., the complaint says.

At 2:20 p.m., minutes before Prather-Fair entered the building through the Senate wing, rioters forced members of the U.S. Senate and Vice President Mike Pence to begin evacuating the chamber. Around this time, members of the US House of Representatives also began to leave their chamber.

During her stay, she walked up to the second floor of the Capitol, walked through several hallways, crossed the Rotunda, walked through Statuary Hall, walked through the hallways to the outside of the U.S. House of Representatives, then returned to the Rotunda and finally came out of thought. the second-floor Rotunda door, the complaint states.

Although the complaint against Prazer-Fair did not allege that she committed any violent acts, federal judges in other South Carolina cases have emphasized during trials that hundreds of nonviolent people like Prazer-Fair at the Capitol that day were covering for hundreds violent rioters who fought with police using guns and chemical sprays, broke through police lines and broke windows to gain access to the building.

Prather-Fair is now free on personal recognizance. Her next court date is set for Dec. 17, according to court records.

The justices also noted that nonviolent rioters, to gain access to the Capitol, had to walk through overturned barricades and see police fighting the rioters. The Capitol was surrounded by temporary and permanent barricades that day and closed to the public.

On January 6, 2001, tens of thousands of people descended on Washington to protest the results of the presidential election and listen to speeches by Trump and others making false claims that the November 3 election was rigged in favor of Democrats.

Those lawsuits have been dismissed in about 60 courts in battleground states due to a lack of evidence. Numerous audits and recounts confirmed the victory of incumbent President Joe Biden. The US Supreme Court also rejected attempts to overturn the election. Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, has publicly said the FBI investigated claims of election fraud and found nothing that would change the outcome of the election.

After Trump’s speech, several thousand protesters made their way to the Capitol building, attacked police, broke through the defenses and entered the building.

At that time, the House and Senate began conducting the ceremonial but necessary certification of each state’s Electoral College votes. The rioters who entered the Capitol halted the process for about five hours as members of Congress, as well as Pence, fled to safe areas.

The January 6 riots continue to be a pressing political issue, as well as the cause of numerous criminal prosecutions against rioters. Trump also faces criminal charges for his role in inciting the riot. And Trump continues to repeat his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. At a town hall meeting last week, he described the Jan. 6 riots as a “day of love.”

In fact, more than 1,500 people were arrested for their actions during the riots. This is the largest Department of Justice criminal investigation in US history.

“More than 140 police officers were attacked during the siege of the Capitol that day, including more than 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and more than 60 from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. The Capitol was damaged, government property was destroyed, and other government property was destroyed. stolen. Current estimates place losses from the Capitol siege at more than $2.8 million,” the US Department of Justice said in a press release.

Of the more than 1,500 people arrested, 571 people are charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement officers. About 170 defendants face charges of entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon. Already 943 defendants have admitted their guilt. Evidence against the rioters usually includes video as well as GPS location data on the rioters’ own cellphones.