A Jan. 6 rioter’s Philadelphia Eagles beanie helped FBI agents identify and arrest him

The distinctive Philadelphia Eagles beanie worn by a Burlington County man during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot helped lead FBI agents to his door this week, resulting in his becoming the 38th New Jersey resident charged with participating in the attack.

Federal agents arrested Lee A. Giobbie, 40, of Eastampton Township, on Tuesday — more than a year after online sleuths identified his knitted green cap with a throwback logo both in videos from the insurrection and photos posted to his public Facebook page.

He’s now the latest of the more than 1,200 people charged in connection with the insurrection to have been brought down by the network of amateur investigators who’ve gathered online to ID and turn in hundreds of rioters depicted in publicly posted photos and videos of that day.

But he’s not the first to have been caught while repping his team at the riot. A Michigan man was tracked down last month in part due to the Detroit Red Wings gear he wore on Jan. 6. Online sedition hunters had dubbed him “RightWingRedWing.” A K-9 officer from Boston who has also been charged in the attack was identified, in part, due to a beanie with the logos of several sports teams. Others charged were wearing Washington Capitols jerseys, New York Yankees paraphernalia, and gear from college sports teams.

But in Giobbie’s case, FBI agents said, the identification based off his Eagles beanie helped lead them to other videos that showed the full seriousness of his actions that day.

Giobbie — whose social media accounts identify him as a financial adviser with Haddon Heights-based Stewardship Financial Services — livestreamed then-President Donald Trump’s speech from the Ellipse that morning and egged on the crowd throughout, leading chants of “Stop the Steal” and “Fight for Trump” through a bullhorn.

When Trump urged the crowd to march toward the Capitol, agents said, Giobbie followed the president’s lead.

» READ MORE: An Atlantic City DJ stormed the Capitol hoping to go viral. Now, he’s going to prison instead.

Videos from outside the Capitol building show him egging rioters on as they pushed against officers and the bike rack barricades they’d set up to keep the crowds at bay.

“Move the gates,” he shouted over his bullhorn at the crowd in one clip described in court filings.

In another, Giobbie wondered aloud: “What would need to happen for police snipers to start shooting?”

Those police lines finally broke, allowing thousands of people to stream onto the Capitol grounds, where members of Congress had gathered to certify President Joe Biden’s victory.

Giobbie, authorities said, was one of the first to rush up the central steps of the Capitol building. And as police attempted to form a new line to keep the mob out, Giobbie — through his bullhorn — urged the crowd to “push, push, push, push.”

“We need something to break the door down,” Giobbie is seen in one video shouting to the crowd, according to court filings.

» READ MORE: A Douglassville man stole a sign from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, agents say. Three years later, it led to his arrest.

Eventually, the rioters succeeded in overwhelming officers and gaining entry to the building. And as the mob streamed inside, agents say, Giobbie briefly followed, making his way through the Rotunda and eventually back outside after he was stopped by police in a Capitol stairwell.

Giobbie now stands charged with two felony counts — obstruction of an official proceeding and interfering with police during a civil disorder — the most serious of which could send him to prison for up to 20 years.

His lawyer, Hope C. Lefeber, on Tuesday balked at the seriousness of those charges.

“This guy hasn’t done a damn thing in the years since. He regrets being there,” she said. “At a certain point, these cases are political prosecutions. Isn’t enough enough?”

Giobbie was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond and orders to report to court in Washington as his case plays out during a brief hearing Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni in Trenton.