Son of conservative activist Brent Bozell charged in Capitol riot

HARRISBURG — The son of a prominent conservative activist is accused of being inside the U.S. Capitol during the deadly riot on Jan. 6.

Leo Brent Bozell IV, of Palmyra, Lebanon County, was charged with obstructing an official proceeding, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a newly unsealed FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. Bozell is the son of Brent Bozell III, the founder and president of the nonprofit Media Research Center, which operates the NewsBusters web site.

Bozell, 41, was identified by tipsters in part by the Hershey Christian Academy sweatshirt he was wearing that day, according to the 12-page affidavit. The academy is a private Christian school in central Pennsylvania where he coached girls’ basketball.

Leo Brent Bozell IV, the son of a prominent conservative activist, has been charged in federal court for allegedly joining the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. https://t.co/8SsS6iA8rQ

— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) February 17, 2021

The affidavit shows images from videos of Bozell wearing a Hershey Christian Academy sweatshirt while in the Senate chamber and exiting the Capitol.

At one point while on the Senate balcony, Bozell moved a video camera feeding video to C-SPAN so that it pointed at the ground as rioters began to stream onto the Senate floor, the affidavit said. That prevented the camera from further recording rioters entering the Senate chamber, the affidavit said.

Bozell’s lawyer, David Deitch, declined comment Wednesday.

On the day of the riot, Brent Bozell III told Fox Business, “This is an explosion of pent-up outrage from middle America…

“They are furious that they believe this election was stolen.” He said he agreed with that theory.