WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Two South Georgia men are among more than 125 people across the country who have been charged in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Law enforcement was drawn to Michael Shane Daughtry and William McCall Calhoun Jr. due to their social media posts.

Daughtry, 58, was identified as being from Pelham by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Macon, but he was identified as being from Baker County in the FBI affidavit that led to his arrest warrants. He is charged with entering a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor. He had his initial court appearance Friday, Jan. 15, and was released on bond with conditions, including internet restrictions.

The FBI affidavit said Daughtry operates “Crazy Coon’s Armory” out of his residence, and several Facebook posts included in the affidavit are ads for the sale of guns or ammunition. His firearms are being held by the U.S. Marshals as part of his bond conditions.

Calhoun, 57, was identified as an Americus attorney. An Associated Press story about his arrest said he described himself as a practicing attorney in Americus for 30 years who primarily handled criminal defense cases. He’s charged with violent entry or disorderly conduct, tampering with a witness and entering a restricted building. He remains jailed pending another hearing on Thursday.

Calhoun was brought to the FBI’s attention by a private citizen who called the agency’s National Threat Operations Center Nov. 12, 2020, and said Calhoun was making threats on social media. The actual investigation began Jan. 6 when an FBI agent in Albany, Ga., was provided a video Calhoun had posted on Facebook of himself inside the Capitol earlier that same day, the agent said in his affidavit. 

The FBI then obtained other messages from his social media pages from before Jan. 6 that indicated an intent to go to Washington to protest the results of the Nov. 3 election and posts from the day of the violence showing photos outside the Capitol and in the Capitol rotunda. In a text-only post, he claims to have been among the group that first entered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Also part of the affidavit is an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, “AJC EXCLUSIVE: Georgia Attorney Among Those Who Broke Into U.S. Capitol,” accompanied by a picture of Calhoun. In the article, Calhoun admits his role in the invasion of the Capitol and calls it “civil disobedience.”

“I would freely admit that I trespassed,” Calhoun said in the article, “but I did it for the love of my country.”

Investigators’ path to Daughtry was not much different. On Jan. 7, the Pelham Police Department provided the FBI with screenshots of social media posts Daughtry had made in which he referred to “storm[ing]” the U.S. Capitol, the FBI affidavit said. Employees of the Pelham PD told the FBI that on Jan. 4, Daughtry had posted a message expressing interest in traveling to Washington for the Jan. 6 rally. After the Pelham officers learned of the Capitol breach through national media, they checked Daughtry’s Facebook profile and found posts indicating he had participated in the breach, the FBI’s affidavit said.

A Pelham Police Department officer called Daughtry and recorded the conversation. The FBI said Daughtry said in that conversation that he was at the Capitol and was one of the first people to force his way past the barricades surrounding the perimeter. He acknowledged during the call that he went “up to the Capitol door” but “had to back off” when law enforcement officers shot him with rubber bullets, the affidavit said.

As with Calhoun, the FBI included copies of Daughtry’s social media posts in its affidavit, including a crowd photo Daughtry claimed to have taken from scaffolding above the steps at the rear of the Capitol.