Former NYPD cop Sara Carpenter arrested in Trump Capitol riot

A retired New York Police officer seen on surveillance video shaking a tambourine while walking around inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with a mob of Trump supporters was arrested Tuesday morning.

Sara Carpenter, 51, is the latest in a number of former or current members of law enforcement to be charged in connection with the riot, which began with protests against the election of President Joe Biden.

Carpenter, who voluntarily surrendered Tuesday, told FBI agents in January that she went to the Capitol with others after hearing then-President Donald Trump instruct them to “march to the Capitol,” according to a court filing.

The riot left five people dead, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Two other police officers who defended the Capitol that day killed themselves on the heels of the riot, which injured nearly 140 other cops.

Carpenter retired from the New York Police Department in 2004 after about 10 years of service. During the 1990s, she worked as a spokeswoman for the NYPD.

Detective Sophia Mason, a current spokeswoman for the Police Department, said in an email, “The NYPD worked closely with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force culminating with the arrest of Sara Carpenter.”

Carpenter was ordered released by a judge on a personal recognizance bond after appearing via videoconference Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, federal court. She faces misdemeanor charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

“Any involvement in the Jan. 6 [riot] is serious conduct,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Hafetz at that hearing.

But the prosecutor said that Carpenter’s cooperation with the FBI, her voluntary surrender and other factors led prosecutors in Brooklyn and Washington to agree that a non-monetary bond would be sufficient “to ensure she will return to court and protect the safety of the community.”

Under the conditions of that bond, Carpenter’s travel is limited New York City or Long Island, unless it is to visit Washington for court appearances and meetings with a lawyer there for the case. She had turned over her passport when she surrendered to the FBI.

Carpenter’s case, along with hundreds of other criminal cases against alleged Capitol rioters, is being prosecuted in District of Columbia federal court.

The court filing says that the FBI received an anonymous tip on Jan. 7 saying that Carpenter telephoned a relative and said that she was inside the Capitol and had been tear-gassed during the…