WILMINGTON, Ohio — Justin Stoll stood with supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, recording video of rioters storming through barricades surrounding the United States Capitol.
"We are at war at the Capitol," said Stoll, of Wilmington, in one of the videos he uploaded to his public YouTube channel. "Patriots have had enough. We have taken the Capitol."
Five people died during the insurrection.
On Jan. 15, federal prosecutors charged Stoll, 40, with making interstate threats and tampering with a witness by threat. The charges stem from Stoll's alleged online threats to someone who commented about one of his videos of the Capitol riots, according to an affidavit filed by a Cincinnati FBI special agent.
"Cool I'm glad I saved this video lol I hope you really went in the Capitol bldg. You'll have 10 years of free room and board waiting for you," wrote a viewer who posted a comment on one of the videos on Stoll's YouTube channel, according to the affidavit.
Stoll responded in a video that included the viewer's comment, according to the affidavit.
In the affidavit, the special agent described Stoll's demeanor in the video as "serious and aggressive."
"If you jeopardize me, from being with my family, you will absolutely meet your mother f****** maker, and I will be the one to arrange it," said Stoll in the video, according to the affidavit.
The WCPO 9 I-Team wanted to better understand the ideology behind the movement Stoll describes on social media and how Stoll's public videos and posts reveal a trail of breadcrumbs leading him and others straight to the U.S. Capitol.
The affidavit quotes Stoll saying in the video that he "never admitted [he] went into" the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 160 individuals in connection with the siege on the Capitol. According to the United States Department of Justice, there are defendants from 39 states, including Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Stoll has pleaded not guilty.
"Individuals like Justin Stoll, who was alleged to have made threats in Ohio relating to the Capitol riots, will be prosecuted...for crimes related to those threats," said David DeVillers, United States attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, in an email to the I-Team. "Any threat against anyone providing information regarding the Capitol riots will not be tolerated."
Stoll's attorney, Karen Savir, did not respond to the I-Team's request for comment.
These self-described "patriot" groups generally "center on anti-government conspiracy theories" based on their belief that "part or all of the government has been infiltrated and subverted by a malignant conspiracy and is no longer legitimate," according to the Anti-Defamation League, a nationally known anti-hate group founded in 1913.
The ADL believes the most dangerous of these subgroups and individuals are those advocating the use of weapons.
In 2019, federal agents arrested two members of a Franklin, Ohio-based militia group on charges of conspiracy and possession of unregistered explosive -- pipe bombs.
Ryan King and Randy Goodman each pleaded guiltyto one count of conspiracy to possess a destructive device in violation of the National Firearms Act. They served six months in jail and received a sentence of time served.
"This is a very extreme movement and we have to take people that are in that seriously," said Mark Pitcavage, a senior fellow at the ADL's Center on Extremism.
Since Stoll's arrest, the WCPO 9 I-Team has reviewed hundreds of his social media posts and comments. We also watched the 150 videos he uploaded to his YouTube channel.
In addition, we researched Stoll's personal and professional history.
On Jan. 15, United States Magistrate Judge Stephanie Bowman released Stoll without bond. She required him to wear an electronic monitor, receive a mental health evaluation, stay off all social media and use only one device with internet access, which will be monitored by U.S Probation and Pretrial Services.
On Jan. 19, the I-Team spoke with Stoll briefly through the door of his rental trailer in the Town and Country Estates Mobile Home Park in Wilmington, a city of 12,000 residents about 50 miles northeast of Cincinnati.
"They won't let me talk about it," Stoll said when we asked him for an interview. "No comment."
Huck's Army
On YouTube, Stoll posted videos under the moniker Th3RealHuckleberry that show him referring to his followers as Huck's Army.
Stoll also talked about his history as a law enforcement officer and veteran. As Huckleberry, he claimed to have his own army.
In a video uploaded on Christmas Eve, Stoll urged his followers to pay his travel costs to Washington and help him find body armor.
"I'm looking for tactical vests, plates, masks, things of that sort," Stoll said. "I have no problem going into battle. I've got no problem doing it naked if that's what you all want me to do, but let's find a way to get me to the battle first."
Stoll frequently declared his support for Trump and his hatred of what he called "treasonous Democrats."
In a Facebook post on June 22, Stoll wrote, "I've been ready my magazines are loaded. Lock them down mr. President." It was just one of Stoll's more than 80 posts that day on his public Facebook page.
A few weeks later, Stoll made comments about the antifa movement in a video he uploaded to his YouTube channel.
"Rumor has it, hunting season for antifa is opening up soon. Does anybody know the bag limit? Asking for a friend," Stoll said in a July 9 video. Then, he winked.
"I'm a veteran, patriot and ex-law enforcement," he said in a different July 9 video. "I'm hearing antifa wants to come out to rural America. I welcome that. We all do.
"You won't make it to the edge of the property line before you hit that ground. Believe that s***. If you think your family's going to find you – that ain't going to happen either. We got hog farms on standby. Believe that s***. No one will ever know you existed. So, we welcome the war you want. Come see me," Stoll said.
Pitcavage said that in the world of extremism, people "may have this alter-ego as an extremist where they believe they are big and influential and they may actually have followers."
Stoll had about 1,000 YouTube subscribers and claimed to have more followers on conservative media platforms.
Stoll turned those followers into potential customers on his website, where he sells merchandise with his logo.
Stoll posted a YouTube video in which he thanked supporters for buying him a set of "same-day dentures" to fix the wide gaps in his crooked front teeth.
"We got your back Huck," wrote one follower in a comment on Stoll's YouTube channel, along with the hashtag #HucksArmy. "We will be wherever you are."
Sometimes, Stoll requested input from his followers.
In a Jan. 4 video on his YouTube channel, Stoll held a black American flag and asked viewers if he should take it with him to Washington. Then, he described what a black flag means to him.
"No enemy combatants will receive aid," said Stoll, according to the affidavit. "Basically, if you are an enemy combatant, you will be shot on sight."
Dr. Brandy Lee is the editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a New York Times national bestselling collection of essays written by 27 mental health experts who have issued warnings about Trump's state of mind and his impact on the country.
"(Stoll) may have been initially enticed as supporting Donald Trump as a way of belonging to something that he can boost his own self-esteem, where he could feel cared for," Lee said.
Lee and other experts had warned in 2017 that "over time [Trump] would grow more dangerous and, without intervention, his dangers would spread," further inspiring others to act dangerously on his behalf.
In his videos, Stoll regularly mentioned Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again," often referred to as MAGA.
"My MAGA supporters are what keeps me going," Stoll said in a July 9 video. "I love all of you."
On Jan. 14, Stoll uploaded a videothat was recorded while he was driving a pickup truck. There was a decal of an American flag in his rear window.
"I'm ready to see America go back to what it once was," Stoll said. "Land of the free and home of the brave."
The next day, federal agents arrested Stoll. He hasn't posted anything on social media since.
"They're very much like victims of abuse or members of a cult," said Lee, who blames the president for fueling the behavior of people like Stoll. "They are so bonded to the relationship that they cannot see the harm that's being done to them."
Stoll's background
Stoll and his wife began renting their Wilmington trailer in 2017, according to a woman in the office at the Wilmington mobile park who said she managed the property. The manager declined to give her name.
Several people who live near Stoll told the I-Team they didn't know him.
One of those neighbors, Carey Malott, said she was concerned about the charges filed against Stoll and violence that erupted at the Capitol.
"I believe that some of them that was there just to be heard was patriots, but not the violent ones," Malott said. "No, that's going too far."
Real estate records show Stoll's rental trailer is the most recent of two-dozen residential addresses associated with his name during the last 23 years. One of those addresses is the Fort Riley Army Base in Riley, Kansas.
Stoll refers to his military experience in some of his videos and posts.
Real estate records show Stoll moved two decades ago from Kansas to the Cincinnati area, where he and his wife lived for several years.
In 2000, Stoll and his wife filed for bankruptcy.
In 2001, a few days after resolving their bankruptcy case, Stoll was arrested and charged with domestic violence. The case was dismissed.
In 2003, Stoll was arrested and charged with domestic violence against the same woman. Court records show Stoll was acquitted at trial.
A year later, the Stolls moved back to Kansas, according to real estate records.
In 2008, Stoll became a state corrections officer at the medium-security Norton Correctional Facility, according to a Kansas Department Of Corrections spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman said Stoll resigned as a corrections supervisor in 2014.
Stoll and his wife stayed in Norton, a town of 3,000 residents, where Stoll worked for Billings Construction, according to owner Terry Billings.
"He worked here for less than a year," Billings said.
Billings said he wasn't surprised that Stoll had tried to turn himself into a social media personality aligned with such a movement.
"He was always wanting to be somebody he wasn't," Billings said.
