Couple denies any wrongdoing
A retired Texas couple said FBI agents busted through the gate of their rural home, threw flash-bangs, handcuffed them, and turned lasers on them before searching their home for evidence connected to the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.
Lora DeWolfe and Darrel Kennemer, who live on seven acres near San Marcos, Texas, told The Epoch Times they attended the Jan. 6 rally at the Capitol but did nothing wrong. They believe the FBI mistakenly identified Kennemer as someone else.
The FBI didnโt arrest them, they said. Agents eventually produced a search warrant saying Kennemer was suspected of โassaulting, resisting or impedingโ officers and โentering restricted building or grounds.โ
Both said they went no further than the Capitol steps on Jan. 6 and did not harm anyone or damage anything. They said the allegation of assault was false, and the FBI kept showing Kennemer a blurry photo of a man who looked similar but wasnโt Kennemer.
โI vacillate between feeling mad and helpless,โ DeWolfe said. โI was really sad. We just wanted an honest election.โ
โTheyโre corrupt, and theyโre trying to scare us,โ Kennemer said, adding he feels the FBI targeted him for just being at the rally.
Raid Before Dawn
Their ordeal began when their gate alarm woke them up in the pre-dawn hours of June 22, DeWolfe said. At first, they thought a deer had tripped the alarm, but DeWolfe got up and saw a white car. Kennemer got his AR-15 rifle and went outside, not knowing what to expect, she said.
โIโm seeing one single white vehicle moving pretty fast, and I was thinking someoneโs going to die,โ Kennemer said.
FBI officers got out of the white vehicle and told Kennemer, who had his rifle up in the air, to drop his weapon. He kept his rifle and asked the FBI to show him a warrant. Kennemer said someone threw a flash-bang at him repeatedly because he wouldnโt drop his weapon at first.
Hours later, the agents came out with a black coat, a dark Trump beanie, and a scarf. They also took the coupleโs phones, which had photos from Jan. 6. Luckily, DeWolf said she had some of them printed.