Trump Administration Hires Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter for Key Pentagon Job Involving ‘Highly Classified’ Military Ops: Report

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File

A convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioter is raising concerns after being hired to work in a Pentagon office that handles classified military information, according to a new report.

Tara Copp and Salvador Rizzo reported for The Washington Post on Tuesday that Elias Irizarry was hired to work in the Defense Department’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict and internal alarms are going off, according to four people familiar with the situation.

Irizarry was 19 when he participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021, something he later said he regretted. Irizarry did not strike anyone during the riot, but one of his traveling partners, Grayson Sherrill, did strike a police officer. He was later sentenced to seven months.

Prosecutors accused Irizarry of deleting data from his phone from January 1, 2021 and January 8, 2021, noting there was a clear “gap” in information.

Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez called Irizarry “a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee” in a statement. Irizarry is reportedly working in an office that handles “embassy security, personnel recovery and hostage rescue.”

Irizarry pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and was sentenced to 14 days in jail after he and two others traveled to Washington and entered the Capitol through a broken window.

“I am ashamed because I will always be a part of this disgrace,” Irizarry said during his sentencing hearing in 2023. “January 6th represented something truly horrible; it was the largest attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”

Irizarry was a freshman at the South Carolina public military college The Citadel during the time of the Capitol riot. He was also serving as a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. After the Capitol riot, which he called a “horrible day,” Irizarry was readmitted to The Citadel and he graduated in 2024.

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