Kearny, NJ man charged after live-streaming himself from Capitol attack

KEARNY — A man who live-streamed himself is the latest New Jersey resident to be arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

The Department of Justice was made aware of Julian Gross, of Kearny, by tipsters who saved his now-deleted TikTok live streams from the pro-Donald Trump rally and from inside the Capitol, according to a statement of fact.

Gross told investigators who came to his home in late January 2021 that he and his mother went to Washington, D.C., with the intent of requesting donations during a live stream. Wearing a red "Trump" baseball cap and an American flag mask, he said he walked around the Capitol grounds, entered the building and went into "a round room that contained red velvet ropes, artwork, and statues," officials said.

Between $150 and $200 worth of donations were made but TikTok banned his account, making the funds inaccessible, Gross is said to have told investigators.

Investigators also talked with Gross' mother in February. They say she said she got cold during the Trump rally and went to warm up in their car instead of heading to the Capitol.

Saved live streams from inside the Capitol

Saved videos and audio of the live stream show the Capitol rotunda and the Senate gallery during the afternoon of Jan. 6.  Gross can be heard telling his audience he was inside Capitol and demanding the Senate gallery doors be opened, officials said.

“We are in the Capitol Building. Power back to America. We are in the Capitol Building. The Capitol Building has been overthrown. It has been overthrown," Gross said according to investigators' statement of fact.

“We are gonna to head out because we just got an emergency alert that they have mobilized the National Guard, so I’m heading out,” he's quoted as saying in the stream.

More video shows Gross

Investigators also reviewed other video footage showing Gross wearing his red cap and mask while walking around the Capitol building.

During a second interview in December, Gross confirmed it was him in the images and showed agents the same photos on his own phone, officials said.

Gross was charged with tresspassing and disorderly/disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

More than 225 defendants including over a dozen from New Jersey have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including over 75 people who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ