OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
Joseph Bolanos claims he was not in attendance at the January 6 riot, but the FBI raided both his apartment and his mother’s, according to The Western Journal.
“A Red Cross volunteer after the 9/11 attacks, the 69-year-old security consultant once received a police commendation for heroism after saving a woman from being mugged.”
“Unmarried, and caring for his 94-year-old mother, he was a well-loved character in the quiet residential area.
“But now his neighbors think he is a domestic terrorist.”
“Bolanos has time stamps on photographs he took in the hotel to prove it.”
“One inside the room was taken at 1:41 p.m. Another out the window of the street below was taken at 1:45 p.m. Another photo was taken at 2:04 p.m. inside a hotel elevator. He says that is when they decided to head back to the Capitol to see what had happened with the Electoral College count.”
“They arrived at the rear of the Capitol at about 2:45 p.m. Unbeknownst to Bolanos, inside the building, Ashli Babbitt has just been shot.”
“He and his friends stood on a patch of muddy lawn about 400 feet from the wall of the Capitol taking photos. The riot was all over.”
“There was no hint of violence … If you were shooting a movie at that location, you would never know anything had happened,” Bolanos stated.
“The FBI ransacked both apartments, upending drawers, trashing his mother’s bedroom,” Devine said.
“An NBC camera crew had been tipped off and was there to film his shame. NBC quoted ‘sources’ saying charges against him were imminent. The story would be repeated in two local publications.”
From The Western Journal:
They searched his mother’s apartment while they were doing the same to his own on the Upper West Side. The warrant they had was for evidence relating to “obstruction of Congress,” “civil disorders,” “conspiracy to impede/assault federal agents,” “interstate travel to participate in riot” and “unlawful entry on restricted buildings or grounds.”
Bolanos was handcuffed and taken to an FBI vehicle outside, where he was interrogated for four hours, Devine wrote.
At 11 a.m., after Bolanos felt ill, he was taken to a local hospital, Devine wrote. It was discovered he’d suffered a stroke.
Four months after the twin raids, there are no charges and Bolanos hasn’t gotten his digital devices back.
“It’s destroyed my reputation,” he told Devine. “I’m not a violent invader … I do not condone the criminality and violence on [Jan. 6] whatsoever.”