A confidential source tipped off the FBI after 32-year-old Ryan Scott Zink of Lubbock posted videos to his Facebook page of himself at the Jan. 6 inssurection at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents filed this week.
Zink faces federal charges for obstructing an official proceeding and trespassing in a restricted building. He's currently detained at the Lubbock County Detention Center.
The FBI found that in one video, Zink said, “We stormed the Capitol. There’s thousands of us here. They can’t stop us all!” Zink posted three videos, according to court records, frequently switching the camera view from himself to the activities happening around him.
In a later post, Zink wrote that he was there to witness history. Zink's Facebook profile picture has a frame around it, showing his support for former President Donald Trump.
Court records state the confidential informant shared details about three people who were allegedly at the deadly riot. Zink was one of them.
Zink’s father Jeff Zink was also at the capitol that day. He’s running for Congress next year in Arizona’s seventh district. In an interview with Lubbock TV news station KAMC, the father denied the allegations against his son.
At least 20 Texans face federal charges stemming from the Capitol Hill insurrection, according to research from the George Washington University Program on Extremism. Social media has been used as evidence in the majority of the over 180 federal cases nationwide.
Have a news tip? Email Sarah Self-Walbrick at saselfwa@ttu.edu. Follow her reporting on Twitter @SarahFromTTUPM.
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