What to Know
- A retired NYPD cop is the latest to face criminal charges in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
- Sara Carpenter, who retired from the police force in 2004, surrendered Tuesday morning, according to federal authorities.
- Carpenter, 51 and of Richmond Hill, Queens, is facing charges of: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. The charges are all misdemeanors.
A retired NYPD cop is the latest to face criminal charges in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Sara Carpenter, who retired from the police force in 2004, surrendered to the FBI in Queens at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to federal authorities.
Carpenter, 51 and of Richmond Hill, Queens, is facing charges of: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. The charges are all misdemeanors.
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When contacted by News 4, Carpenter’s attorney had no comment.
According to FBI documents, Carpenter drove down to Washington the night before and was inside the Capitol building without authority to be there, recording video with her phone and shaking a tambourine.
During a Jan. 18 interview with FBI, Carpenter said that she arrived in
Washington, D.C., on the morning of Jan. 6 at about 9 a.m. and went to then-President Donald J. Trump’s rally. Carpenter stated that at the rally point, she heard Trump’s words on the jumbo televisions and speakers instructing people to rally back, not leave, and march to the Capitol. Carpenter said that at around 1 p.m., she began to walk with a large group of people to the Capitol and, subsequently, entered the Rotunda of the Capitol, where she observed other individuals walking around and leaving with items.
U.S. & World
According to the documents, Carpenter informed FBI agents that she observed police yelling for individuals to get out, then pushing and shoving the crowd. Carpenter said she was trampled and pepper sprayed as she exited the Capitol building.
During the interview with FBI, Carpenter said that she had taken video
of the interior of the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 using her phone and voluntarily sent the FBI a text message containing video footage of the Capitol.
Additionally, security video obtained from the inside of the Capitol Rotunda pertaining to the day of the riots shows a woman in a red hat, green coat and
black boots carrying a gray backpack entered the Capitol Rotunda with the crowd. She appeared to be holding, and at times shaking, a tambourine.
Subsequently, on March 2, FBI agents conducted a court ordered search of Carpenter’s residence in Richmond Hill. It was during this search that agents discovered a green coat, black boots and gray backpack like those seen on the woman in the video footage of the Capitol Rotunda, according to FBI documents. Allegedly, in the pocket of the green coat there was a Google map of downtown Washington, D.C.
Carpenter also voluntarily provided the tambourine she was shaking, and which was captured in the security footage, according to FBI documents. The agency said it worked closely with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force on Carpenter’s arrest.
Carpenter appeared via teleconference in federal court in Brooklyn Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors said during an afternoon court hearing that Carpenter has cooperated with the investigation.
She was ordered released on bond and the judge ordered the surrender of her passport and her travel is limited to NYC and Long Island. Carpenter’s next court appearance is scheduled for Monday via teleconference in federal court in Washington, DC. No plea was entered.
