Metro Atlanta teen charged in U.S. Capitol attack

A north Fulton County teenager is the latest Georgian to be arrested in last month’s attack on the United States Capitol.

Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, of Milton, was taken into custody Friday on charges “relating to criminal acts” at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the FBI’s Atlanta office said in a tweet.

His federal complaint hadn’t been made public late Saturday afternoon, so it wasn’t immediately clear what charges Cua faces or if he was among the group that stormed the Capitol as members of Congress attempted to certify the results of November’s presidential election.

An FBI spokesman confirmed that a search warrant was executed at Cua’s home in Milton, but said the teen was not arrested there.

An Instagram account apparently belonging to Cua includes entreaties to go to his “Southern Adventures” YouTube channel, but the videos that were posted there appear to have been deleted.

Typical themes on his social media accounts were his love of pickup trucks, ATVs and guns. One stylized photo on Instagram, posted last May, appears to show Cua aiming a shotgun from the porch of a house. He and the rifle are in color, while the background has been rendered in black and white.

“Shall not be infringed,” he wrote. “What part of that is unclear?”

A number of hashtags were added to the post, including #everydaycarry, #sniper and #molonlabe, the last being a phrase from Greek antiquity adopted by gun rights activists.

Cua didn’t shy away from voicing his support for President Donald Trump. In The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s political coverage following Election Day, the teen was photographed unfurling a giant “Trump 2020″ flag during a Republican rally in the parking lot of the Georgia Republican Party headquarters in Buckhead.

According to a brief in the Milton Herald, Cua was cited for violating the city’s public disturbance ordinance in December after driving around the Birmingham Falls Elementary parking lot and blaring an air horn with a large Donald Trump flag attached to his truck. He reportedly told Milton officers he wasn’t doing doughnuts, but said he “had to pick up some speed” to get his flag to flap in the wind.

Cua’s mother has a photography business and his father is the vice president of lifestyle brands and managed development for an international hotel group, according to his LinkedIn page. Attempts to reach them for comment Saturday were unsuccessful. An AJC reporter called a number listed for Cua’s mother, but the woman who answered hung up after the reporter identified himself.

The teen’s arrest comes as federal agents continue their efforts to round up those who took part in the attack that left five people dead last month, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.

Rosanne Boyland, a 34-year-old Trump supporter from Kennesaw, was also killed after being crushed when the crowd attempted to push its way past officers and into the Capitol, officials said.

Among those previously charged in connection with the Capitol riot was McCall Calhoun, a longtime South Georgia attorney who practices in Americus. Prior to his arrest, he told the AJC the worst criminal act he committed that day was “trespassing.”

“I would freely admit that I trespassed, but I did it for the love of my country,” Calhoun said. “Anyone who claims it was anything other than civil disobedience was not there, and they did not see it and they do not know.”

Also arrested in the weeks after the Capitol attack were a Tennessee man with North Georgia ties and his mother, who lives in Woodstock.

Eric Munchel was accused of carrying plastic restraints through the Capitol and into a congressional chamber, prompting many to refer to him as “zip-tie guy” on social media. He’s charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Munchel’s mother, 56-year-old Lisa Eisenhart, was taken into custody Jan.16 by FBI agents in Nashville after authorities accused her of conspiring with her son.

In addition, police said a 53-year-old Alpharetta man took his own life days after Metropolitan Police in Washington arrested him on charges of “unlawful entry of public property” and violating the city’s 6 p.m. curfew.

In connection with the insurrection, Trump became the only U.S. president impeached twice. The latest impeachment charge from the U.S. House accused him of inciting the violence that led to the deadly riot. For weeks, he said President Joe Biden’s election was illegitimate and reiterated that position at a rally in front of the White House before supporters stormed the Capitol.

The former president’s trial in the U.S. Senate begins Tuesday.

— AJC staff writer Chris Joyner contributed to this article.