Collier man arrested in DC is Iraq veteran, was unsettled by election results

A Collier County man arrested at the insurrection at the nation’s capital had been uneasy for weeks about the election results.

In December, 38-year-old Michael Amos posted on Facebook that the election that handed the presidency to President-elect Joe Biden was not over.

One of his family members, who declined to go on camera, said Amos wanted to take a stand for the country’s freedom. The family member said Amos is an Iraq veteran.

But, instead, he landed behind bars along with 68 others who were arrested during the rioting on Wednesday that paused Congress’ certification of the electoral college votes.

Amos is scheduled for a court date on June 10, according to Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He is accused of unlawful entry and violating curfew. Attempts to reach Amos’s lawyer were unsuccessful.

“I don’t think they had full understanding of what was going to happen, and when the crowd started swelling, they just kind of got caught up in it but it was illegal,” said Susan Hilty, a neighbor of Amos.

Hilty’s family is full of veterans, she said.

“My first husband was a Vietnam veteran,” she said.

Her father was also a veteran, she said.

“I can’t see either one of them two doing that,” Hilty said. “They come back with a lot of problems sometimes and I feel very sorry for them.”

Another neighbor, Jim Mabri said no one is above the law.

“He heard the call to come up to Washington and he answered the call,” Mabri said. “He’s on the wrong end of the stick as far as I’m concerned.”

Hilty said she is sorry something like this happened in the U.S.

“I think we need to look at our rules and we need to have respect for each other,” she added.