Northeast Philadelphia Man Charged In Capitol Riot After, Yes, Posting Selfies

Ronald Andrulonis, a Northeast Philadelphia man who was just charged in the January 6th Capitol riot (photo via court documents)

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The Feds Just Charged Northeast Philadelphia’s Ronald Andrulonis in January 6th Capitol Riot

It’s been more than two years since the Capitol riot. So you might think the feds have charged everybody they’re going to charge. Alas, Ronald Andrulonis of Northeast Philadelphia demonstrates this is not necessarily the case.

Federal prosecutors just charged 37-year-old Andrulonis, an Amtrak employee, with four counts relating to his alleged involvement in the Capitol riot.

According to court documents, the investigation into Andrulonis began way back on January 12, 2021, when somebody dimed him out to the National Operations Threat Center. The office of Amtrak’s inspector general also received tips about Andrulonis after he allegedly sent a selfie from inside the Capitol to fellow Amtrak employees. Andrulonis also allegedly posted a selfie from inside the Capitol on Instagram. Because that’s the thing to do when you’re breaking several federal laws.

Prosecutors say that Andrulonis started his day at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. He boarded an Amtrak train to Washington D.C. before 5 a.m. Once in Washington, Andrulonis attended the so-called Stop the Steal rally, according to images shared by the feds. Then, Andrulonis allegedly dashed off to the Capitol and made it into the office of an unspecified United States senator. Prosecutors say this is him chilling on a couch in said senator’s office:

Prosecutors say the man in the yellow box is Ronald Andrulonis, who has been charged in the January 6th Capitol riot (photo via court records)

When I reached Andrulonis for comment, Andrulonis said he had none and then promptly hung up.

Hatboro Woman Charged In Nasty Amy’s Pizza Shop Incident

ICYMI, a Hatboro pizza shop was flooded with support from all over the world after a white woman was caught on video inside the pizza shop saying all kinds of hateful things to the owner, who is Hispanic.

Hatboro’s Rita Bellew hurls ethnic insults at the owner of Amy’s Pizza Shop (image via TikTok)

The woman, Rita Bellew of Hatboro, apparently had an issue with the owner having Spanish-language programming on his TV. In the TikTok video, she accuses him of being undocumented. She calls him “not American.” And she adds: “I will look you the fuck up and get you the fuck out of our town… I’m not giving my money to some illegal immigrant.” OK then, Rita. Don’t you realize everything is on video these days?

On Friday, Bellew had a bit of a wake-up call when the courts charged her with ethnic intimidation (a third-degree misdemeanor, in this case) and harassment (a mere summary offense). Bellew’s preliminary hearing is on April 5th. I was unable to reach Bellew for comment.

Jason Kelce On Saturday Night Live

Travis Kelce was the host. And his brother showed up to have some fun.

A Grim Stat

Five murders in eight hours.

Prepare for a Motorcade

President Biden will visit Philly on Thursday to deliver a speech about the country’s economy. Per a White House statement: “The President will deliver remarks on his plans to invest in America, continue to lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, reduce the deficit, and more.”

Things I Wasn’t Expecting to Ever Have to Tell You

Animal control officers removed a three-foot-long lizard native to South America and Central America from South Philly’s FDR Park on Sunday.

And from the Win-Some-Lose-Some Sports Desk …

The Phillies had an up-and-down weekend. They fell to the Tigers on Friday, 6-3; bested the Pirates on Saturday, 4-3; and were obliterated by the Blue Jays on Sunday, 16-4. “That doesn’t even sound like a baseball score,” my husband said. On the plus side:

Bryce Harper says he will report to Clearwater and Phillies spring training on Wednesday and continue to rehab from Tommy John surgery pic.twitter.com/Msg0Jq4KQM

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 5, 2023

Today at 1:05, they face the Orioles.

The Union went up against Inter Miami on Saturday night and got shut out for a 2-0 loss. They had some first-half chances, and granted, the game was physical. But our guys just couldn’t land it in the net.

The Sixers were in Milwaukee to visit the Bucks on Saturday. I hate the Bucks. I hate Brook Lopez. Naturally, he was hot. But the teams were tied, 29-29, at the end of the first. Embiid left the court briefly during the second with some sort of injury but soon returned. C’mon, big guy, we need you! The Sixers played from behind and only managed to pull to within six at the half, 59-53. But in the third, Grayson Allen, the player everybody hates — even people who went to Duke — hit for 20 points and put things out of reach. End of the third, we were down 99-85. Tobias Harris and P.J. Tucker both checked out of the game with injuries.

Still, somehow, the Sixers pulled within two courtesy of another solid performance by Paul Reed, in for Joel Embiid, and the steady work of James Harden. And then to within one with nine minutes left, thanks to Georges Niang, who seemingly decided all of a sudden to man the hell up. Then he tied it at 108 with six left to go!

https://twitter.com/Sixerdaily/status/1632296972634685440

But after Joel clanked a couple of foul shots with the Sixers down 116-110 and 4:26 left, a Harden layup cut it to four, and two made foul shots, also by James, made the lead a mere two again. A huge three by Hardin gave the Sixers the 125-124 lead! And Joel hit a three: 127-125, 35 seconds left! Maxey hits two foul shots … two-possession game! Then Niang … blew an in-bounds play by waiting too long to get it in. Oh Lord, this team is killing me. Traveling call on Giannis, Harden was fouled, sank one, and jumped up in the air like an eight-year-old at the Y. Sank the second, too! A huge Sixers win breaks the Bucks’ 16-game winning streak, 133-130! Woo-hoo! And we play the Pacers in Indianapolis tonight at seven.

https://twitter.com/JustinLever3/status/1632233559854333953

In college hoops on Saturday, Penn (17-12) fell to the Princeton Tigers (19-8) in overtime, 77-69; La Salle (13-18) just barely got clipped by Loyola (10-20), 76-73; in the CAA tournament, the Drexel Dragons (17-14) prevailed over the Monmouth Hawks (7-26; thank God!), 64-45, in the initial round, then fell on Sunday to UNC Wilmington, 73-68.

Villanova has been picking off some ranked opponents lately, and the Wildcats (16-15) went up against another one—the number 14 Connecticut Huskies (24-7)—in Philly on Saturday. Alas, they hung back about 10 points for about the entire game and finally lost, 71-59.

As for Temple (16-15), they trailed the Tulane Green Wave (19-10) by double digits nearly all game on Sunday before almost pulling it out but losing, 83-82. Khalif Battle, per the Inky, is no longer with the team.

The Flyers also played.

All Philly Today Sports Desk coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.