Man who pledged to come to Washington with ‘guns blazing’ allegedly hung ‘Area Closed’ sign he stole from Jan. 6 riot at his bar

Left: Ian MacBride is seen taking a picture of himself inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Right: A picture of an ‘Area Closed’ sign MacBride allegedly took from Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 hangs in MacBride’s bar. (Images via FBI court filings.)

A Pennsylvania man who allegedly threatened to go to Washington, D.C., with “guns blazing” on Jan. 6 and later posted a stolen “Area Closed” sign from Capitol grounds has been arrested.

Ian MacBride, of Douglassville, is facing felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department announced Thursday. MacBride is allegedly one of the thousands of Donald Trump supporters who descended on the Capitol that day as Congress began to certify President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election. The riot, which followed Trump’s plea to his supporters to “fight like hell” against the certification, temporarily brought proceedings to a halt and forced lawmakers to either flee the building or shelter in place for hours.

According to prosecutors, MacBride stole a sign posted by U.S. Capitol Police that stated “Area Closed” — and then, like countless other accused Jan. 6 rioters, allegedly bragged about his perceived prize on social media.

“Hung my Capitol battle flags and ill gotten ‘Area Closed’ sign up in my bar tonight,” he posted to an online forum called “Patriots.Win,” prosecutors say. The post was made by someone with the username “PennsylPede1776,” which investigators connected to MacBride.

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