The recipient of a mysterious nine-second phone call from the White House placed during the riot has been identified as a Brooklyn man who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
According to CNN, Anton Lunyk, 26, of Midwood, Brooklyn, admitted to participating in the attack with two friends and is the owner of the phone to which someone from the White House briefly called during the riot.
Former Jan. 6 committee staffer and ex-Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., revealed the mystery call on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
Riggleman, who is promoting his new book about the work of the committee, framed the call as evidence that Trump or someone on his team was cheering on the attack in real-time.
“That’s a big, pretty big ‘aha’ moment,” Riggleman, a Trump critic, told “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker.
“Was it an accidental call?” Riggleman mused. “When the White House just happened to (call) a rioter that day, on January 6th? Probably not.”
However, investigators and members of the Jan. 6 committee reportedly downplayed that claim, noting that Lunyk claims he knows nothing about the call and knows no one on Trump’s staff.
The call came shortly after Trump tweeted that his supporters should “leave peacefully.”
According to federal prosecutors, Lunyk traveled to Washington, D.C. “for the chaos” with his friends Francis Connor and Antonio Ferrigno.
According to CNN, the three exchanged threatening messages about former Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY.
“Our end goal was to brutally murder Pence and Pelosi,” Connor wrote in an Instagram message to Ferrigno and Lunyk two days after the riot, CNN reported. “And sadly, today they’re still breathing, therefore we must come back stronger and fiercely next time around.”
The White House call was not mentioned during the sentencing of Lunyk and his two friends, who were sentenced to home confinement and small fines, as well as a tongue lashing from a federal judge.
“The three of you just come across as real knuckleheads,” U.S. District Judge Rudy Contreras told them. “You all could use a strong dose of maturity.”
