South Carolina tea house operator from Fairfield County arrested in Jan. 6 Capitol riot

Another South Carolinian has been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol where supporters of former President Donald Trump tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power resulting from the 2020 presidential election.

Christina Praser-Fair, of Fairfield County, was arrested by the FBI’s Columbia field office in late September. She was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, according to federal court records.

She is the 29th South Carolinian arrested in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. She could not be reached for comment.

According to her LInkedIn profile, Praser-Fair is a “tea specialist” who is president of the Cornwallis Tea Co., a Winnsboro restaurant featuring handcrafted teas. The restaurant advertises itself as “a cozy spot for soups, sandwiches, salads and pastries, plus a variety of teas.” Praser-Fair’s profile also lists Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Arlington, Va., under her education.

A detailed complaint in her case notes that Praser-Fair was interviewed by WLTX-TV two days after the riot and told the reporter that while she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, she did not enter the building.

However, a comprehensive review of surveillance/closed-caption television video on 17 different cameras showed Praser-Fair and her teenage son inside the Capitol, the complaint said. The son was not named because he is a minor.

Praser-Fair entered the Capitol at 2:22 pm — 22 minutes after rioters first broke into the building — and stayed until 2:49 pm, the complaint said.

At 2:20 p.m., minutes before Praser-Fair entered the building through the Senate wing, rioters had forced members of the U.S. Senate and Vice President Mike Pence to begin evacuating the chamber. Members of the U.S. House also began fleeing their chamber about that time.

During her stay, she walked up to the Capitol’s second floor, walked though multiple hallways, crossed the Rotunda, walked through Statuary Hall, walked though hallways to the outside of the U.S. House of Representatives, then went back to the Rotunda and finally exited thought the second floor Rotunda door, the complaint said.

Although the complaint against Praser-Fair did not allege she committed any violent actions, federal judges in other South Carolina cases have stressed in court proceedings that the hundreds of non-violent people such as Praser-Fair at the Capitol that day gave cover to the hundreds of aggressive rioters who fought with police using weapons and chemical sprays and broke through police lines and smashed windows to gain access to the building.

Praser-Fair is now free on a personal recognizance bond. Her next court date is Dec. 17, according to court records.

Judges have also noted that non-violent rioters, to gain access to the Capitol, had to pass by overturned barricades and would have seen police fighting with rioters. The Capitol was ringed that day by temporary and permanent barricades and closed to the public.

On Jan. 6, 2001, tens of thousands of people arrived in Washington to protest the results of the presidential election and to listen to speeches making false claims by Trump and others that the Nov. 3 election had been rigged in favor of Democrats.

Those claims had been thrown out of some 60 courts in battleground states for lack of evidence. Numerous audits and recounts confirmed a victory by current President Joe Biden. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected attempts to overturn the election. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, publicly stated that the FBI had investigated claims of election fraud and found nothing that would have changed the election’s outcome.

After Trump’s speech, several thousand protesters made their way to the Capitol building, attacked police, breached defenses and entered the building.

At the time, the House and Senate were beginning to conduct a ceremonial but necessary certification of the Electoral College votes from each state. The rioters who entered the Capitol halted that process for some five hours as members of Congress, as well as Pence, fled to secure areas.

The Jan. 6 riots are still a hot button political issue, as well as being the cause of numerous criminal prosecutions against the rioters. Trump also faces criminal charges for his part in instigating the riot. And Trump continues to repeat his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Last week, at a town hall meeting, he characterized the Jan. 6 riots a “day of love.”

In reality, more than 1,500 people have been arrested for their actions during the riot. It is the largest criminal investigation by the Justice Department in U.S. history.

“During the siege of the Capitol that day, over 140 police officers were assaulted — including over 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and over 60 from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department — the Capitol was damaged, government property was destroyed, and other government property was stolen. Current estimates are that losses arising from the Capitol siege exceed $2.8 million,” a press release from the U.S. Justice Department said.

Of the more than 1,500 arrests, 571 people are accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers. Some 170 defendants have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon.

Already 943 defendants have pleaded guilty. Evidence against the rioters usually includes video, as well as rioters’ own cell phone GPS location data.