Mathew Capsel, from Marselies, Ill. was arrested on Jan. 27 with multiple charges for endangering police, unlawfully entering a restricted building and resisting law enforcement. He posted on TikTok that he was pepper sprayed after charging the national guard’s riot shields, and multiple social media followers reported it to the FBI.   

 (See more: Man arrested in Marion for Involvement in January 6th Insurrection) 

Capsel was released on bond Jan. 29. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, he is under house arrest and can only travel to northern Illinois and Washington DC, to appear in court where he faces federal charges.   

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While in court, Capsel claimed “ I got banned on Facebook for life.” The Daily Egyptian was able to access this Facebook account up until the evening of Jan. 28, a day before he testified in court. 

While his most recent account was banned, the DE was able to find three of his past Facebook accounts. All are still active as of publication.

One of these accounts, last publicly updated in May 2018, had dozens of pro-Trump, white nationalist and neo-confederacy posts, along with sharing several conspiracy theories including flat earth theories, chemtrails and the “murder” of Seth Rich and that Post Malone is not an actual person.

Capsel also believed that the 2018 Illinois primary election was rigged. ”Fuck Illinois election vote Dr Pepper,” Capsel posted with a picture of a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper. “I don’t even wast (sic) my time with Illinois election. Talk abt demacradicly (sic) rigged” he explained in a comment.

Capsel also posted a 2018 letter from President Donald Trump on his Facebook page, thanking him for the “invaluable contributions to the advancement of our great nation.”      

Additionally, the DE found a Twitter page and a different TikTok account Mathew Capsel used as of June 2020. On both accounts he posted multiple tweets and videos promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.

The TikTok account he used on the Jan. 6 insurrection was “banned due to multiple Community Guidelines violations”.  

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His support for Trump was documented in 2016. Getty Images photojournalist Scott Olson published a photo of Capsel holding a sign reading “The silent majority stands with Trump” at the cancelled Trump Rally on Mar. 11, 2016 in Chicago. CNN also including him in a thumbnail confronting anti-Trump protestors that same day.          

According to one of his Facebook pages, Capsel owns his own moving company, called Capsel’s Pro Moving Labor. He was doing a job in southern Illinois when he was arrested. 

Capsel’s siblings seem to have been aware of his far-right political postings, tagging him in several posts on his now-banned account. One of Capsel’s siblings shared a link to a Youtube video titled “Trump Calls on Supporters For “Wild” Protest of Electoral Count, Democrats Fear War Is Coming” by political commentator Tim Pool on their personal page in December. 

Capsel’s wife filed an order of protection against him last year, which included Capsel not leaving the state. The US attorney mentioned him violating his court order for the insurrection attempt on Jan. 6 as evidence against him being released on bond. Their court date for their divorce is in March, according to the LaSalle County Circuit Clerk’s court records.  

Capsel taunted his followers that reported him to the FBI. On his now deleted Facebook, after screenshotting an account that doxxed him and used screenshots of his TikTok at the protest, he said “Antifa think they scare me”. 

The DE tried to reach Capsel and his family and company for comment, but received no response as of publication deadline.

Staff reporter Danny Connolly can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DConnollyTV.

To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

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