A Marine veteran’s self-published book documenting his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol led to his arrest Thursday on felony charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers.
Nathan Thornsberry, 42, of North Branch, Michigan, wrote the book, “January 6: A Patriot’s Story,” and was using Facebook to promote a revision, “January 6th Redux: A Patriot’s Story.” An acquaintance saw Thornsberry’s social media post about the second book and submitted a tip to the FBI, according to court documents.
The Justice Department said authorities used video footage and images from the Capitol breach to identify Thornsberry and charge him with felony charges of obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, as well as four misdemeanors.
Police bodycam footage showed Thornsberry pressed against a metal bike rack officers were using as a barricade. Authorities allege Thornsberry pushed against the barricade and yelled, “Bring it!”
In the images of Thornsberry on Jan. 6, he’s wearing a black jacket with a large U.S. Marine Corps emblem on the back, as well as a “Trump 2020″ shirt and gloves with reinforced knuckles.
The Marine Corps confirmed Tuesday that Thornsberry served for five years and reached the rank of corporal before leaving the service in 2011. He worked as an air traffic controller and combat engineer, and he deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. Thornsberry’s last duty station was Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he served as part of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group.
Thornsberry published his first book under the name Nathaniel Matthews in February 2022 and sold copies on Amazon, authorities allege. A description of the author on Amazon says Matthews is an Afghanistan War veteran who served in the Marine Corps. The FBI subpoenaed Amazon for records that show the Nathaniel Matthews author account was registered by Nathan Thornsberry.
The revised version of the book was posted for sale in March 2023. According to court documents, an excerpt of the book said, “This work is based on the eyewitness report of the author and review of available video and photographs.”
In the book, Thornsberry wrote he traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the Stop the Steal protest, which consisted of supporters of former President Donald Trump who believed unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Thornsberry also described his belief of a conspiracy theory about a deep state group of unelected officials secretly controlling the U.S. government.
In his description of the events at the Capitol, Thornsberry wrote he was attempting to protect other protesters when he was pushed against the police line. That account is not consistent with video footage from the scene, which shows Thornsberry “voluntarily pushing against the police line with no one blocking his exit,” federal authorities said in court documents.
With Thornsberry’s arrest, nearly 1,500 people from all 50 states have been charged with crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, and 550 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the Justice Department said.
As of May, 222 of the individuals charged or convicted for their involvement that day had military backgrounds, according to data from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
This story was produced in partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism. Please send tips to [email protected].
Nikki Wentling covers disinformation and extremism for Military Times. She’s reported on veterans and military communities for eight years and has also covered technology, politics, health care and crime. Her work has earned multiple honors from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors and others.
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