Former Jan. 6 defendant pardoned by Trump now charged with kidnapping and sexual assault

A person who President Trump pardoned after he allegedly fired a gun through the Jan. 6, 2021 US Capitol riot was arrested final month for allegedly brutally attacking a lady three years earlier than the tried siege, in line with authorities.

John Banuelos, 40, from Utah, was arrested on Oct. 17 whereas pulling out of a fast-food restaurant in a rideshare automobile in Chicago, the Cook dinner County Sheriff’s Workplace introduced in a press release posted to social media on Friday.

A warrant had been issued for Banuelos in Salt Lake Metropolis on Oct. 1 for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault, cops stated.

Banuelos had allegedly attacked a lady within the Salt Lake Metropolis space in June 2018, three years earlier than he was accused of being concerned within the Jan. 6 riot, in line with courtroom data obtained by CBS. 

He invited the sufferer, referred to in filings by “S.J.” to his residence beneath the guise of throwing a bogus social gathering. He then allegedly beat her after she entered his home, the charging paperwork cited by the outlet stated.

Banuelos “hit her within the face and instructed her he was going to kill her. Banuelos then grabbed her by the shirt and dropped her on the ground, inflicting her to hit her head,” the paperwork learn.

He allegedly sexually accosted the girl, aggressively kissing her and punching her within the head, the outlet reported.

Banuelos turned enraged after the girl punched him again and “grabbed her shorts, pulled them off, and threw her, inflicting her entire physique to fly within the air,” the submitting alleged.

Banuelos then strangled the sufferer, making use of “a strain of ’10 out of 10′ for a few seconds,” the doc claimed.

The lady instructed investigators she thought she was “gonna die” through the horrific alleged assault.

“Banuelos was charged final 12 months for the Jan. 6, 2021 taking pictures,” the Cook dinner County Sheriff’s Division stated.

However his case was dismissed following Trump’s order to pardon over 1,500 folks charged within the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the US Capitol.

Banuelos was the one rioter accused of pulling and firing a gun on the “Cease the Steal” rally whereas on Capitol grounds, CBS reported.

At round 2:23 p.m. on the day of the riot, Banuelos was captured on CCTV footage scaling the southwest Inaugural stage scaffolding, the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Columbia alleged in a March 2024 assertion.

He was then seen waving on the crowd earlier than pulling a firearm out from his waistband, prosecutors stated.

A minute later, he raised the gun over his head and fired two photographs within the air earlier than climbing down the scaffolding to hitch the mob under, courtroom paperwork alleged.

No accidents had been reported within the taking pictures, police stated.

Banuelos had confronted a slew of felony and misdemeanor expenses in reference to the incident earlier than Trump granted him clemency.

“No pardon can change the tragic reality of what occurred on January 6, 2021,” Choose Tanya Chutkan stated on the January listening to to dismiss the pending case towards Banuelos.

He stays in custody at Cook dinner County Jail for the alleged assault, authorities stated.