The FBI has arrested a Georgia man in Washington, DC, who said he was considering murdering house speaker Nancy Pelosi. The arrest came the night after the attack on the Capitol.
CBS News has been informed that the agency considers the suspect mentally unstable.
WGCL-TV, affiliated with CBS Atlanta, obtained a court document in which the FBI says it had been tipped the day after the attack that Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. sent a text message saying her noggin ‘on Live TV. “
In another text message cited in the document, Meredith discusses the possibility of driving his truck onto the Capitol lawn and trying to run over Pelosi.
He also predicted that within 12 days “many will die in our country.”
According to the document, agents learned that he was staying at a Holiday Inn in DC and questioned him there the night after the attack on the Capitol. He gave agents permission to search the room, his truck, trailer and mobile.
The document says they found small arms, an assault rifle and “hundreds of bullets” ammunition.
Meredith told agents he intended to attend the Capitol rally but was late in Washington due to car trouble.
The FBI sought allegations of threatening to murder Pelsoi and illegal possession of firearms.
WGCL says Meredith owned a car wash in Acworth, Georgia. The station says he would occasionally advertise the conspiracy group Qanon while promoting the company and sending tweets to Antifa to come and get him.
He sold the company in September 2019 and has nothing to do with it now, but that hasn’t stopped an angry audience from chasing the new owner.
“We are constantly getting calls from outraged customers, not even customers. I mean they are out of state, our ratings are plunging,” Jason Mathison told WCGL.
Jason said he sought help from Google to combat the negative reviews, which could be disastrous for his business.
Police in Hiawasse, Georgia, tell WGCL that Meredith moved to the area in December 2019 and they have been contacted by Meredith’s parents who were concerned about his social media posts and behavior.
Hiawasse Police Chief Paul Smith also said Meredith attended a BLM demonstration on June 5, 2020. At the demonstration, he exited his vehicle with a rifle. He was immediately contacted by undercover agents, who kept an eye on him until he left.
Police said WGCL had moved to Clay County, North Carolina in September 2020.