Thomas Paul Conover, 53, of Keller, Texas: FBI

By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – If you’re planning a trip to the nation’s capital to join an insurrection and storm the Capitol, you want to choose your drink of choice carefully. And don’t forget to post photos and videos of yourself in the act on Facebook to make the job of the FBI really easy.

“I don’t always storm the Capitol of the United States of America, but when I do, I prefer Coors Light,” said Thomas Paul Conover of Keller, Texas in one video posted to Facebook showing him having a beer in front of a portrait of George Washington.

Conover is the 20th resident of North Texas to be charged in connection with the Capitol riot, as first reported by The Dallas Morning News (a paper I used to write for).

Bragging on social media about his role in the Jan. 6 riot led to his arrest this week after the Facebook photos and videos got the attention of one follower he didn’t anticipate: the FBI, according to The Washington Post.

Conover, 53, was arrested Wednesday and charged on misdemeanor counts of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct, according to the criminal complaint posted on the website of the U.S. Department of Justice. He was released the same day following a court appearance in Fort Worth.

In the weeks leading up to the riot, Conover echoed former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election on social media, the FBI says. Conover decided last December to travel to Washington after a friend convinced him that he should help “take our country back.”

“Going to Washington, D.C. … to join the mob,” Conover wrote on Facebook.

When he flew from Dallas to Washington on Jan. 5, he posted to social media that a “storm is coming but that’s what Democrats want.”

On the day of the insurrection, Conover posed in multiple photos holding a Coors Light. He is seen double-fisting a beer and a coffee as the mob flooded the steps of the Capitol. In another, he is sitting on the steps of the Capitol with his beer as the building is breached. When he got inside the building, a smiling Conover is giving a thumbs-up and holding his beer in front of the “Declaration of Independence” painting by John Trumbull that hangs in the Capitol Rotunda. The painting shows Gen. George Washington resigning his commission to the Continental Congress.

“Greetings from Washington, D.C.,” he wrote on Jan. 6. “We took the Capital.”

Conover spent more than 20 minutes inside the Capitol, according to records. In one video posted to social media, he announces to his friends, “This is it, boys and girls. This is the Capitol.”

“I pray to God that nobody does any damage to the stuff in here, ’cause I’m not down with that,” Conover said, according to investigators. “But I’m kind of, kind of proud of the people that stood up and said, ‘You know what? Enough.’ ”

“It’s really kind of cool,” he added. “I’m glad I came.”

He “engaged in several verbal confrontations with MPD officers before leaving,” the complaint says, referring to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. But he kept taking photos with his Coors Light.

“After leaving the Capitol, Conover continued taking selfies and posing for photos with his empty beer can,” Jimmy Beachum III, a special agent with the FBI in Dallas, said.

About a month later, the FBI said it got its first tip from an informant who claimed to know Conover. The informant in February sent authorities screenshots of Facebook comments made by Conover talking about how he “had a beer” in the Capitol.

Authorities said they were able to confirm Conover’s identity, and that he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, through phone records, body-camera footage and his Facebook account.

Michigan Man Charged With Assault on Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

Tim Levon Boughner, 41, of Romeo, Michigan: FBI

In other legal news related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, a Michigan man has been charged with assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon and other crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Tim Levon Boughner, 41, of Romeo, Michigan, is charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges.

Boughner was arrested on Dec. 7, 2021, in Lapeer County, Michigan, and made his initial court appearance in the Eastern District of Michigan. He remains held pending a detention hearing on Dec. 9, 2021.

According to court documents, video footage depicts Boughner among a crowd of rioters at the Capitol. At approximately 2:33 p.m., he used a chemical spray against the officers.

Around this time, people in the crowd were throwing objects and deploying multiple chemical sprays against law enforcement officers who were attempting to secure the building. One minute later, Boughner again used the chemical spray against the officers.

Later, he posted on social media about his actions that day. In a post on Jan. 6, he stated that he “started spraying” at the Capitol and “f—- those cops up.” On Feb. 17, he posted, “I have to share. My life has not been the same since this day … I still don’t know how I ended up on the capital steps having a pepper spray fight with the capital (sic) police.”

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, along with the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Boughner as #337 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Michigan State Police, the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 11 months since Jan. 6, more than 700 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 220 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.