PORTLAND — A Battle Ground man who federal investigators say was caught on video repeating, “Our house,” while inside the U.S. Capitol with his father on Jan. 6 made his first appearance in federal court Wednesday, accused of illegally entering, disorderly conduct and demonstrating inside the restricted building.
Jeremy C. Grace’s arrest follows just three months after his father, Jeffrey R. Grace, 62, was arrested and charged in connection with the the U.S. Capitol incursion.
Although the senior Grace told FBI agents that he didn’t think his son entered the nation’s Capitol that day, a search of the father’s phone turned up video in a “trash” folder that showed both men inside the building, according to a federal complaint.
The video appeared to have been taken by Jeremy Grace inside the Capitol Rotunda at 2:25 p.m. on Jan. 6, according to the complaint.
“Just made it into the Capitol here. Oh yeah, oh yeah,” Jeremy Grace is heard saying on the video, an FBI agent wrote in the complaint. “It gets no better than this….Freedom.”
His dad adds, “God bless America,” according to the complaint.
An FBI agent reached Jeremy Grace by phone on Jan. 25. During that call, Jeremy Grace told the agent that he and his dad had traveled to Washington, D.C., to go sightseeing and attend a rally for President Donald Trump on Jan. 6.
Jeremy Grace said he got separated from his dad when “things got crazy” at the rally, and he walked toward the U.S. Capitol with a crowd but stayed back from the building and didn’t go in, according to the complaint. He told the agent then that the closest he made it to the U.S. Capitol was a “round a bout thing” on the building’s west side, the complaint said.
The elder Grace, who was arrested Feb. 4, told FBI agents he did not believe his son had entered the building, and also had told agents that he had his cellphone with him that day but did not take any videos or photos, according to the complaint.
The videos recovered from Jeffrey Grace’s phone appear to have been taken on Jeremy’s cellphone, according to the metadata that the FBI examined, the complaint says.
Jeremy Grace, 37, is accused of unlawful entry to a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in the Capitol building or grounds and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Federal records indicate he was arrested in Molalla, Ore., but lives in Battle Ground.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You allowed Jeremy Grace to remain out of custody, pending his next court appearance.
He and his father are among more than 400 people arrested stemming from the U.S. Capitol insurrection. They’re among six people who have been charged from the metropolitan Portland area.
The senior Grace told agents he entered the U.S. Capitol through an open door on the north side, walked into the Capitol Rotunda, decided to leave when he saw others causing damage to the property and climbed out a broken window.
