PUYALLUP, Wash. — A Puyallup couple was charged related to their participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Scott Ray Christensen and Holly Dionne Christensen were charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct within any restricted building or grounds, uttering loud, threatening or abusive language, or engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct at any place in the grounds or in any of the Capitol buildings with the intent to disrupt or disturb Congress and parading, demonstrating or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings.
The couple was arrested Dec. 7.
Scott and Holly Christensen were in the Capitol building for over an hour during the riot until both were removed by law enforcement, according to court documents.
The couple was spotted in the Rotunda, at the Memorial doors, in a second-floor hallway on the Senate side of the building and in a remote hallway on the fourth floor of the building that few other rioters, if any others, breached, according to court documents.
Scott and Holly Christensen were shown marching to the Capitol building in videos posted to the conservative social media app Parler. CCTV video and police body cam footage captured the couple inside the Capitol building.
Just before the couple was escorted out of the building by police, Scott Christensen was shown on body cam video in a verbal exchange with a Metro police officer. A scuffle broke out, after which CCTV video showed him being escorted out of the building by police. Holly Christensen was also escorted out of the Capitol building by a police officer, video showed.
The Christensens were then seen in the background of MSNBC video outside the U.S. Capitol building around an hour and a half after they first entered.
Eight months later, in September of 2021, a federal agent met with a witness who said they were Scott Christensen's supervisor at his place of employment. The witness confirmed Scott Christensen traveled to attend the Stop the Steal rally in Washington D.C., but said they had no knowledge of him entering the Capitol building. The witness positively identified Scott Christensen based on his state ID photo and was also able to positively identify him in screenshot photographs showing him inside the U.S. Capitol building, according to court documents.
The witness was unable to identify Holly Christensen in the photographs at that time, according to court documents, saying the woman could have been Scott Christensen's daughter.
A different federal agent spoke to the witness a second time months later, in January of 2022, and again showed the witness a picture of Scott and Holly Christensen. The witness said they had known Holly Christensen since 2015. The witness was able to identify Holly Christensen as Scott Christensen's wife in multiple pictures but was unable to remember her first name.
Records obtained by a warrant from AT&T showed cellphones belonging to Scott Christensen utilized a cell phone tower consistent with being inside the U.S. Capitol building from 2:43 p.m. to 3:51 p.m. on Jan. 6.