Tampa man charged in connection with U.S. Capitol riot

TAMPA — Two more Florida men, including one who lists a Tampa address, face charges in connection to the U.S. Capitol riot, records show.

Paul Allard Hodgkins, 38, and Graydon Young, 54, have both been arrested and charged with several crimes in connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection by a mob of Trump supporters in which at least five people died, federal court records show.

Hillsborough County voter records show Hodgkins lists an address in Tampa’s Sulphur Springs neighborhood. He first registered to vote in Hillsborough in 2016 and voted there in the November 2020 election.

Booking records show Young, who is being held in the Pinellas County jail, lists an address in Englewood, an unincorporated area that straddles Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

Records show both men have been charged by federal prosecutors with entering a restricted building or grounds and tampering with or destroying records and documents.

In addition, Hodgkins faces charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and Young is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and destroying, altering or falsifying records in a federal investigation.

According to a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 9, the investigation into Hodgkins began on Jan. 22, when the FBI received a tip from someone who knows him.

The tipster had received an apparent “selfie-style photograph” from a friend of a friend showing a man with long black hair, a black mustache and beard standing in the well of the Senate chamber, the complaint states. The man, who is wearing a dark t-shirt with “Trump” in white letters, appears to have a pair of protective eye goggles under his chin. The tipster said the photo was obtained from Parler, the far right-friendly social networking application used by many Trump supporters.

The tipster identified the man as Hodgkins, the complaint states. An FBI investigator compared the photo to Hodgkins’ Florida driver license photo and concluded they appeared to be the same person.

Hodgkins also appears in a video taken in the Senate chamber by a reporter for The New Yorker magazine, according to the complaint. In the footage, Hodgkins is also standing in the well of the chamber and is holding a red flag bearing the “Trump 2020″ slogan.

Spend your days with Hayes

Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter

Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.

Loading...

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

During an interview with investigators on Jan. 26, Hodgkins admitted to being the man in the selfie-style photo and another photo taken in the chamber, the complaint states.

“According to Hodgkins, he saw other people around him breaking windows, individuals engaged in a knife fight, and other injured individuals, but Hodgkins did not know those individuals or participate in the conduct,” the complaint states.

Hodgkins also appears in closed-circuit security footage taken that day, according to the complaint. At one point in the video, he can be seen walking around the Senate chamber wearing the goggles and snapping photos with his cell phone. At another point, while standing near a desk with papers on it, he can be seen putting on what appear to be white latex gloves.

Records show Hodgkins was arrested on Monday and released on $25,000 bail after appearing in court in Tampa. He was appointed a federal public defender. The attorney listed for him in court records did not return a message from the Tampa Bay Times on Friday. A man who answered a call from a Times reporter at a listed phone number for Hodgkins declined to comment Friday afternoon before hanging up.

On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington issued a news release about Young’s arrest, saying he is associated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group.

He is one of several people who donned paramilitary gear and got into a “military-style ‘stack’ formation that marched up the center steps on the east side of the U.S. Capitol, breached the door at the top, and then stormed the building,” the news release states.

Two other Floridians, Kelly Meggs, 52, and Connie Meggs, 59, both of Dunnellon, also are among those who were in the formation and were charged this week, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Kelly Meggs is the “self-described leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers.”

Prosecutors said that in late December, Kelly Meggs wrote in a Facebook message: “Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!!”

About that time, Young arranged for training for himself and others from a Florida company that “provides firearms and combat training,” the news release states.

Records show he was arrested on Monday. Young’s attorney, Robert Foley of Fort Myers, declined to comment. Foley said a hearing scheduled for Young in federal court in Tampa on Friday was canceled.

A woman who answered a listed phone number for Young said he wasn’t available and declined to comment before hanging up.

Hodgkins is at least the second man with ties to Hillsborough County who has been arrested in connection to the riots. Matthew Council of Riverview was arrested in January on a charge of unlawful entry.

At least 17 people from Florida have been arrested in connection with the riots.

Times staff writers Dan Sullivan, Margo Snipe and Chris Tisch contributed to this report.