A woman from Brick has been arrested and charged over her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol, the Department of Justice announced.
Anna Lichnowski was detained in Florida late last month. She is facing multiple charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the arrest and charges against Anna Lichnowski, a former Brick Township resident, in connection with her alleged involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Lichnowski, who had previously sued Ocean County over election records for the 2020 and 2021 elections, was apprehended in Florida on July 27, as revealed in court records.
The trail leading to Lichnowski’s arrest began with two tips received by federal authorities. The first tip was received on January 15, 2021, while the second came on August 10, 2021. The second tipster reported that Lichnowski had initially posted photos of herself within the Capitol on social media, later deleting them.
In January 2022, a screenshot of a photo sent by Lichnowski to a relative surfaced. In the photo, she could be seen wearing a distinctive red winter hat and a blue scarf with white stars inside the Capitol. In the accompanying message she wrote that she had stormed the Capitol and was proud of it.
Surveillance footage from the insurrection corroborated Lichnowski’s presence in the Capitol. She was captured on closed-circuit cameras entering the building at 2:47 p.m. and moving through various sections before leaving at 3:21 p.m.
The investigation confirmed Lichnowski’s identity through photographs from the surveillance footage, as well as the presence of a Brick Township police officer in the images, who had known Lichnowski since childhood.
Lichnowski had previously filed a lawsuit against Ocean County and the Ocean County Board of Elections in January 2022. Her lawsuit, centered on election records, was dismissed in July 2022 due to a lack of prosecution. Lichnowski had since relocated to the Tampa area, according to her public social media posts, where she continues to advocate against vote-by-mail balloting.