BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Viera High School teacher was arrested Tuesday on federal charges in connection with the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, court records show.
Kenneth John Reda, 54, was arrested by FBI agents Tuesday morning on charges of illegally entering Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct.
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Brevard County Schools officials confirmed Reda is a physical education teacher at Viera High School. The school district said it will conduct an internal investigation into Reda’s alleged role in the events on Jan. 6. Reda is on leave while the investigation is underway.
Communications officer Russ Bruhn said Reda has also coached football and track and field at Viera High. As of Wednesday, he is no longer an assistant football coach but still remains a teacher.
The district said Reda started working for Brevard Public Schools in 2014.
’'We just have to wait and see what our investigators find, have them go to the school board and kind of go from there,” Bruhn said about the internal investigation in its early phases.
According to the criminal complaint from the FBI, investigators received a tip on Jan. 18 with a screenshot of messages on Parler, the far-right social networking site. The tipster claimed one of the commenters, under the screen name “mrjoebidenhead,” was Reda admitting to being inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. Records obtained from Parler, LLC later confirmed that the account belongs to Reda, according to the criminal complaint.
The biography for “mrjoebidenhead” reads, “Imperfect Son of the Lord Jesus Christ, Husband, Father, Son, Pop, Educator, concerned American NRA & 2A supporter: WWG1WGA.”
Investigators said other posts from Reda on Parler showed his intent to be in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6.
“We have got to get to DC on January 6th it is IMPERATIVE every single person that VOTED for Trump has to flood DC....” read one post, according to the complaint.
Another read, “It is time to organize PATRIOTS we need to get together and organize against this KABAL we need to overthrow it....the have thrown their last ditch effort to overthrow this election therefore this nation if we do not come together and organize we will LOSE.”
The FBI said it obtained records from Google showing that a mobile device linked to a Gmail account associated with Reda was inside the Capitol building or on restricted grounds on Jan. 6. for about 59 minutes, from 2:36 p.m. to 3:35 p.m.
According to the criminal complaint, agents observed Reda in multiple surveillance videos from inside the Capitol building. Below are several photos of Reda inside the building with a red box highlighting his location according to court documents. According to the FBI, surveillance footage showed Reda entered the Capitol building at 3:02 p.m. and exited it again at 3:12 p.m.
If convicted Reda faces a maximum of three years in jail and fines.
Reda appeared before a federal judge Tuesday and was released on bond.
Reda’s arrest marks the 21st person from Central Florida charged in connection with the unrest in Washington, D.C. as then-President Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building as lawmakers inside were voting to certify the 2020 election results.
More than 370 people are facing federal charges in the deadly insurrection, which sent lawmakers into hiding and delayed the certification of President Joe Biden’s win.
Most recently, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and heavy metal guitarist became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Read the criminal complaint below:
Reda Charging Documents by Thomas Mates on Scribd
