Robert Keith Packer Hampton Virginia man identified as Camp Auschwitz sweatshirt wearer who participated in the Capitol riot arrested & charged unlawful entry.
A Capitol rioter who caused furore after pictured wearing a ‘Camp Auschwitz’ sweatshirt has been arrested.
Robert Keith Packer, 56, of Newport News, Hampton Roads, Virginia was taken into custody Wednesday by the FBI in and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
He appeared virtually Wednesday before a federal magistrate judge in Washington, who ordered him released on personal recognizance bond. Packer’s release included the conditions that he attend a January 19 virtual hearing in District of Columbia federal court, and that he stay away from the District unless required to be there for court CBS reports.
Along with Packer’s participation in the attack on the Capitol, the public was left appalled after he was pictured wearing the shirt which referenced the infamous Nazi concentration camp, where about 1.1 million people were killed, many Jewish, during World War II.
The sweatshirt featured skull and crossbones and appeared to read ‘work brings freedom’ – a translation of the German phrase on the camp’s gates; ‘Arbeit macht frei’.
Extremist one of 70 arrested
A Viriginia resident described Packer as having ‘extreme’ beliefs while another described him as an ‘off-beat’ character.
Packer, described as a former welder and pipe-fitter, has a criminal record for driving under the influence and a felony conviction for forging public records.
More than 70 people are already facing federal and local charges in the Jan. 6 assault that left five dead. Hundreds more charges are expected as federal investigators comb tips, video and social media to identify and arrest suspects across the country.
Those already charged face a variety of counts including unlawful entry, disorderly conduct, theft, assault and weapons violations. A team of senior federal prosecutors are investigating more serious charges including sedition and conspiracy related to the “most heinous” acts at the Capitol, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said Tuesday.
Rounded up individuals include white nationalists, neo-Nazis and QAnon conspiracy theorists, coming from states as far-flung as Arizona and Oregon, while photographs from the riot have shown people wearing clothes with a range of antisemitic messages.
