by Gazette Staff
HARDWICK – A Florida man who was staying at an Airbnb in Vermont was arrested in Hardwick last week on charges stemming from his alleged participation in the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
According to an August 25 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Brian Preller, of Mount Dora, Fla., faces a felony charge of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. He was also charged with two misdemeanors, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s press release, Pressler was one of “[f]ive Florida men, all self-identified militia members, [who] were arrested today on charges stemming from their actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
The FBI’s Statement of Facts related to Preller’s case uses photos, video, social media posts, telephone records, and rental car receipts to place Preller at the scene of the attack on the Capitol and to detail his alleged actions. A number of firearms were seized at the time of his arrest.
Preller is the second person with ties to the area that was arrested for taking part in the January 6 riot. Nicholas Languerand, who lived in Wolcott at the time of the riot, was sentenced to 44 months in prison as part of a plea agreement reached with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. After the riot, Languerand moved to Little River, S.C., reportedly to his grandparents’ house, where he was arrested on April 15, 2021.
