CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) - A Catawba County man was sentenced to 60 days of incarceration to be followed by three years of probation for his involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol in Jan. 2021, according to court documents.
James Little, of Claremont, must also pay $500 in restitution.
A family member of Claremont called the FBI tip line with text message evidence, the FBI said.
At 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Little texted this family member saying, “We just took over the Capitol.”
At 3:36 p.m., Little texted again saying, “We are stopping treason! Stealing elections is treason!
We’re not going to take it anymore!”
The family member provided screenshots of the text messages to the FBI.
This same family member told the FBI that Little posted a message on Facebook on Jan. 6. Another relative of Little’s posted a message asking for prayers for Little, who they said was traveling back from Washington, DC.
This family member provided the FBI with a screenshot of this post.
On January 13, the FBI interviewed Little at his home in Claremont, NC. Little told the FBI that he lived at that residence with his elderly mother.
Little voluntarily provided the following information:
- Little went to Washington, DC the day before the planned protest on Jan. 5, 2021. On Jan. 6, he went to the protest
- Little said at some point, the police began using tear gas at the protest. Little said that some people went into the Capitol, and he got caught up in the moment and went into the Capitol as well
- Little said that he had no intention of entering the Capitol when he went to the protest, but that he got caught up in the moment
- Little said he walked around the Capitol, smiling and fist bumping other people who were also inside the Capitol. Little walked around the Senate Chamber and took photos of himself there
- Little stated that he sent these photos to people that he trusted. Little said that he must have gotten caught up in the moment when he sent a text about taking over the Capitol
- Little left the Washington, DC area and returned to North Carolina that evening
- Little chose not to answer follow-up questions from FBI agents
- Little also declined to turn over the photos that he took with his telephone of himself and others inside the Capitol
On January 19, a paid database the FBI has access to reported that the phone number given to them by the family member was registered to a James Little serviced by AT&T.
The FBI was able to obtain an image of Little from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle files and use that image to search an FBI database of photos and videos of people near, and inside, the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This search returned photos of Little.
Little was charged with:
- Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or gorunds without lawful authority
- Disorderly conduct in restriced buildings or grounds.
- Parading or demonstrating in Capitol building
- Disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds
According to the FBI, there is also probable cause to believe that Little violated 40 U.S.C. §§ 5104(e)(2)(D) and (G), which makes it a crime to willfully and knowingly utter loud, threatening, or abusive language, or engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct, at any place in the Grounds or in any of the Capitol Buildings with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of a session of Congress or either House of Congress.
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