Capitol riot arrest of restaurant owner rattles hometown – KIRO 7 News Seattle

KANE, Pennsylvania – (AP) – A curious caller ordered a “riot pizza” at Pauline Bauer’s restaurant. A profane hate mail described her as a local terrorist. It even became a punch line for Stephen Colbert’s late night talk show on CBS.

A quick backlash greeted Capitol riot suspects like Bauer as they returned to their homes in the United States after joining the mob that stormed past police barricades, smashed windows and disrupted the confirmation of Joe Biden’s January 6th presidential victory. Workers reported dozens of them to the FBI. Some lost jobs. Others lost their freedom and waited in jail.

In Bauer’s hometown in rural Pennsylvania, her arrest and that of a longtime friend have rekindled partisan arguments, more often on social media than on street corners, some residents say. As Bauer and William Blauser Jr. battle the charges in court, many in the town of Kane struggle to understand how two of their neighbors could be among the hundreds of Trump loyalists who want to overturn the elections that day.

“I find it totally outrageous, it was illegal and I think it was treason,” said Joe Lanich, who with his wife runs a printing company called The Laughing Owl Press Co. in Kane’s Uptown business district. He said the city is populated by proud residents who work hard to make Kane better and “don’t want any person to put us in a bad light”.

Bauer tries to shake off contempt from strangers, but admits that her actions have angered some in her community.

“Some people didn’t like the fact that I got political,” she said during a lunch break at her restaurant, Bob’s Trading Post.

In the months since January 6, former President Donald Trump and his supporters have tried to portray the rioters as peaceful patriots, even with videos from that day showing members of the mob beating cops and an unthinkable attack on the legislature’s seat American democracy chase after lawmakers. On Tuesday, officials defending the Capitol that day described to a congressional committee investigating the riot how they feared for their lives and continued to suffer physical and emotional pain.

Bauer yelled at the police to “bring Nancy Pelosi out” to be hanged during the riot, the FBI says. Five people died in the attack or its aftermath, and dozens of police officers were injured. More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes.

Even so, some in Kane have stood by Bauer, who insists that their actions have not cost them friendships or harmed their business. On a Wednesday evening, the tables in their restaurant were occupied by their regular customers.

“She is a person who stood up for his rights. She should have the right to stand up for what she believes in, ”said Glenn Robinson, 68.

Such a political split over the January 6th development has emerged in communities across the country. 47 percent of Republicans say this can be called a “legitimate protest,” while only 13 percent of Democrats say so, according to a June Monmouth University poll.

A new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 81% of Democrats consider it “extremely” or “very” important that the investigation into the events of the Capitol Breach continues, compared with 38% of Republicans say the same say.

Bauer was arrested in May along with Blauser, a Vietnam War veteran and retired postman. A surveillance video shows the two entering the Capitol through an east rotunda door, where at least three police officers tried to block access. A video from a police officer’s body camera taped Bauer who said he was bringing out Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“Get her out now. They are criminals. You have to hang, ”she said.

Trump received nearly three-quarters of the vote in the 2020 election in the district that includes Kane, a district in northwestern Pennsylvania with about 3,500 residents, over 97% of whom are white. Many homes and businesses in the city are still adorned with Trump signs and flags. A warehouse adorned with pro-Trump posters also has one that reads “Burn Loot Murder,” a derisive reference to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Street signs refer to Kane as “A Star in the Forest” and the hometown of the late NBA basketball coach Chuck Daly. The city is also known as the “Icebox of Pennsylvania” because of its cold, snowy winters.

Before the uprising, most of Kane’s residents were familiar with Bauer for the deep-dish pizza and ice cream they’ve been serving since buying the restaurant 15 years ago. That began to change when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shut down business along with many others in the small town on the edge of the 517,000-acre Allegheny National Forest.

She has become an outspoken critic of COVID-19 lockdown measures that cost her business and drive a wedge between neighbors that clashed on social media. She complained about a mask mandate during a school council meeting two weeks before her arrest, Republican newspaper Kane reported.

Last year, as their business suffered, Bauer also began adopting an ideology consistent with the belief of the extremist “sovereign citizens” movement that the US government is illegitimate. Bauer says she is a “sovereign people”, not a sovereign citizen, and describes herself as “Pauline from the Bauer family”.

Bauer was combative with the judge presiding over her case, claiming the court had no authority over her. She was detained for one night in June after refusing to answer routine questions from a judge. During a recent hearing, she told US District Judge Trevor McFadden that she did not want an attorney to represent her “or an attorney from the bank.”

“I don’t know your bar menu, sir,” she said to McFadden, who appointed an attorney to be her substitute attorney.

She also told the judge that she would not allow an investigating committee officer to inspect her home in person or virtually. The judge warned her that if she refused, she could be arrested again. He also denied her motion to dismiss her charges, which include obstruction of official process and disorderly and disruptive behavior in a restricted building or compound.

“To which conditions?” She asked.

“You know what? You can’t ask any conditions from me,” replied the judge.

After the hearing, Blauser and Bauer hugged in front of the Washington courthouse. Two days later, Blauser and his wife came to Bauer’s restaurant for dinner. He sometimes eats three meals a day at Bob’s Trading Post and hasn’t broken his routine since her arrest. One of Blauser’s lawyers advised him to stay away from Bauer.

“I can’t do this because she’s my best friend and I’m trying to help her. And if you can’t help your best friend, God will help you, ”he said.

In a recent episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the host mocked Bauer for claiming to be a “divinely empowered entity immune to law.”

“Divinely empowered? So she’s going to get away with it, just like Jesus, ”joked Colbert. “But it begs the question, if you have been chosen by God to be above the laws of government, why do you care who is responsible?”

Bauer posted on Facebook that she was in the Capitol. Several witnesses who saw their contributions contacted the FBI. One of them was a client who said Bauer had “gotten more and more political over the past year and started losing business because people were uncomfortable with her constant political rhetoric,” according to an FBI agent.

Investigators believe that Bauer used their restaurant’s Facebook page to advertise a January 6 bus ride to Washington for the “Mega Millions Rally”.

“It takes 51 people to fill a bus,” she wrote, according to the FBI.

Bauer denies having organized a bus trip. Blauser said he, Bauer and seven others traveled to Washington in a minibus, not a bus. She and Blauser left the Capitol approximately 38 minutes after entering.

“Many people say that they are proud of me because I stood up for my rights,” said Bauer.

Blauser claims they are “trapped in the moment”.

“Everyone else was pacing up and down so we just followed them,” he added.

Bauser and Blauser were both released on bail of $ 10,000 after their arrest. You don’t have a trial appointment yet. More than 20 other Capitol riot defendants pleaded guilty on Monday. Only three were sentenced, one to eight months in prison for violating the US Senate Chamber.

Kane Mayor Brandy Schimp, a first-term Republican, takes a long pause when asked how she reacted to the January 6 uprising.

“I felt it was time to turn off the TV and get back to work because there is too much division and too much anger and too much sadness and too much frustration,” she said.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any way without permission.