“In May, after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ordered nonessential businesses to close as coronavirus cases spiked, Jacob Lewis refused to keep his Victorville, Calif., gym closed. The gym owner, who became a local face of the anti-coronavirus restriction movement, said he was reopening, and openly defying the state’s orders, to protect his customers’ mental health and personal freedom. ‘The Gym is ‘essential’ to people’s mental and physical health,’ he said in an Instagram post announcing his decision to reopen in late April. ‘With that being said, I, Jacob Lewis will take full responsibility for re-opening of The Gym.'”
“Now, he’s facing felony charges for allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol in the deadly attempted insurrection earlier this month. Federal investigators said in a recent criminal complaint that video showed that Lewis, wearing a black jacket and a red Trump 2020 beanie, spent seven minutes inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, as hundreds of rioters violently stormed the building and disrupted Congress. Lewis, 37, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with knowingly entering a restricted space and violent and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He did not immediately return requests for comment late Thursday” – Washington Post.