WASHINGTON — An elected member of a Virginia school board — who allegedly bragged about drinking Fireball and Coors Light in the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and said he was in touch with a member of the far-right Oath Keepers that day — was arrested by federal authorities Tuesday.
Miles Adkins, a member of the Frederick County School Board in Virginia, faces four misdemeanor charges: entering and remaining in a restricted building, disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and unlawful picketing in a Capitol building. Court records show that Adkins was scheduled to make his first appearance in a federal courtroom in Charlottesville on Tuesday.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"I drank fireball and coors lite in the capitol," Adkins wrote in a message after the attack, according to an FBI affidavit. As he left the Capitol, he was also captured on video yelling, "Let's go get a beer, let's go get a beer!" the FBI said.
Adkins was elected to the school board in 2021. He faced calls for his resignation in June after The Winchester Star reported he had been charged with driving under the influence. The Northern Virginia Daily noted that Adkins had been identified as a Jan. 6 rioter by online "sedition hunters" in 2022.
The FBI said Adkins spoke with the bureau before his arrest but would not speak about his alleged actions inside the Capitol. The FBI said Adkins admitted that he "had traveled to Washington, D.C. a few times prior to January 6, 2021, to act as an escort for persons associated with the Oath Keepers" in November and December 2020 and that he "communicated with an Oath Keeper on January 6, 2021, through the Signal cellular phone application."
Members of the Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy because of their actions on Jan. 6. Last year, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison, one of the longest sentences given to any Jan. 6 rioter.
Federal authorities said video showed Adkins helping another rioter climb through a broken window on Jan. 6. They say he "danced around in the middle of a group" and yelled and chanted during the attack and that video showed him "holding a large, canned beverage" that appears to be a can of Coors Light.
About 1,300 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, and federal prosecutors have secured convictions against more than 900 people. Sentences have ranged from probation on unlawful picketing charges to 22 years in federal prison for seditious conspiracy.
