Brandon Fellows biography: 13 things about US Capitol riot suspect from Albany, New York

Brandon Craig Fellows is a white man from New York, United States. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He lives in Albany, New York. _(a)
2. In 2006, Timothy Monroe became his stepfather. _(b)
3. From 2009 to 2012, he attended Niskayuna High School in Niskayuna, New York where he was a wrestler. _(c)
4. He worked for Price Chopper Supermarkets in Schenectady, New York as a cashier, donation collector and general maintenance staff member from April 2010 to April 2012 and as a front end supervisor and service action manager from April 2012 to February 2014. _(c)
5. From 2012 to 2013, he attended Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. _(c)
6. From 2013 to 2016, he attended Schenectady County Community College in Schenectady. He was the captain of the wrestling club and a temporary member of the running club and the Christian club. From September 2013 to May 2014, he was also a student senator and a student assemblyman at the State University of New York in Albany. _(c)
7. From June 2014 to August 2014, he was a camp counselor, fitness instructor and wrestling coach at Camp Pinnacle in Voorheesville, New York. _(c)
8. In March 2020, he stopped working because of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He was disappointed because the New York state denied him unemployment benefits. _(b)
9. His family avoided him because of his political views. On December 25, 2020, no one from his family invited him to dinner except his grandparents. _(b)
10. Just after 1:00 a.m. on January 6, 2021, he arrived outside of the Ellipse, a park adjacent to the White House in Washington, D.C., USA. Later that day, he listened to Donald Trump‘s speech in front of the White House before going to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. That day,  Trump’s supporters breached the building while a joint session of Congress was certifying the vote of the Electoral College and affirming Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 residential election. During the riot, he was dressed in a knit hat that resembles a knight’s helmet and beard, a leather jacket with an American flag emblazoned on the back and snow pants. He entered Oregon senator Jeff Merkley’s office where he had his muddy boots propped on a table. _(d)
11. The address on his driver’s license indicates a residence in Schenectady County, New York but he was living in a converted school bus when he participated in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. On January 12, 2021, he said he did not regret joining the riot. _(b)(d)
12. On January 16, 2021, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested him and charged him with being in a restricted building or grounds and violent entry or disorderly conduct. _(d)
13. He was 26 years old when he was arrested on January 12, 2021. He was initially granted pretrial release but in June 2021, he was ordered back into custody after repeated violations, including missing a court-ordered mental health evaluation and allegedly calling a probation officer’s mother. When a clerk of the court tried to contact him about another violation, an allegation that he was harassing a former girlfriend, it was discovered he had apparently put the number for the judge’s wife’s office instead of his own. _(d)
14. In September 2021, he asked U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to allow him to represent himself pro se in his case. The judge warned him he could be opening himself up to perjury but ultimately granted his request. _(a)
15. On October 12, 2021, he testified on his behalf during his bond hearing. Assistant U.S. attorney Mona Furst got him to admit under oath that he climbed into the U.S. Capitol through a broken window without police permission on January 6, 2021, that he had used a judge’s wife’s contact information to try to get him removed from the case and that he had missed court-ordered mental health and drug testing appointments. After listening to him talk for almost two hours, McFadden told him, “You are charged with a federal felony. This is not a community college where you get pats on the back.”_(a)

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(This is a developing story. More details are being added.)

_SOURCES:

• _{a. WUSA 9}
• _{b. Bloomberg}
• _{c. Brandon Fellows}
• _{d. The Times Union}