U.S. Capitol riots: Middleburg couple granted supervised release, ran out of federal courthouse

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Rachael Lynn Pert, 40, and Dana Joe Winn, 45, self-surrendered Tuesday to federal law enforcement on charges related to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The Middleburg, FL couple made their first appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Klindt Tuesday afternoon at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Jacksonville.

Pert and Winn are charged with unlawful entry on restricted grounds, and violent or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

If convicted on both charges, Pert and Winn could face up to 18 months in prison, and/or fines up to $105,000.

Winn and Pert were appointed attorneys by Judge Klindt after citing financial hardships.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Pert and Winn were identified by an anonymous tipster who recognized the couple from a flyer put out by the Metropolitan Police Department.

“… the tipster identified Pert as the woman in the center of the photo with a flag draped over her shoulders, and Winn as the male pictured directly to the right of Pert wearing a hat, and holding a phone in his right hand and an American flag in his left hand,” the complaint states. “The tipster stated that it knew Pert and Winn because the tipster was a co-worker of Pert’s at a Circle K in Middleburg, Florida. The tipster further advised that Pert was the assistant manager at Circle K and requested time off work to ‘go to this.’”

The complaint also details a Facebook Live video on Winn’s account appearing to show the couple driving to Washington D.C.

“… Just wanna tell my friends and family that we love y’all. We’re on our way to DC. Cause us as American patriots, we’re tired of all this s**t,” Winn stated in the Facebook Live. “It’s time to make a stand. I never really knew how deep and corrupt all this crap was and how far back it’s gone. But America needs to wake up. We’re on the verge of f*****g losing it. We’re just about up on I-10, get to 95, 95 North to DC, so.”

Winn went on to say they would document their experiences, and try to do so by Facebook Live when possible.

“… That all depends if Facebook lets us, kinda doubt it cause they’re a bunch of b*****s. But we’ll keep you all informed, we’ll record the President when he’s talking. But other than that, we’re getting up on the Interstate, so I need to pay attention to what the hell I’m doing. But we’ll periodically step in and stop and say ‘hey what’s up.’ Y’all have a good evening. Say hi Rachael.”

Winn then aims the camera at Pert.

“Hi y’all,” said Pert.

“Got her flags, come with her flagpole, that way I can hit ANTIFA in the head if need be, ha,” stated Winn. “But we’ll be safe. Y’all have a good evening, we’ll be back, we’ll talk to y’all later. Love ya, bye.”

Judge Klindt granted the couple supervised release with signature bonds of $5,000 for Pert, and $10,000 for Winn.

As conditions of their supervised release the couple must live separately, Winn must remove the guns from his house by this Friday, and the couple’s travel is restricted to the Middle District of Florida.

Pert and Winn are subject to electronic GPS monitoring. They were seen wearing ankle monitors as they left the courthouse Tuesday.

The terms of their supervised release also ban the couple from going to Washington D.C. for purposes other than court appearances or consulting an attorney. The couple must not consume alcohol excessively or use narcotics.

Prosecutors revealed Pert and Winn had tested positive for marijuana use. Judge Klindt mandated the couple submit to drug testing.

They’ll make their next appearance in court before a Washington D.C. Magistrate Judge on Friday, Jan. 29.