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Peninsula farm owner latest Bay Area resident charged in Capitol riot

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Published  January 21, 2022 7:15pm PST
Capitol Riot
KTVU FOX 2

Another Bay Area resident charged in Capitol riot

Federal charges were filed against a Bay Area man who is accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

WASHINGTON - The owner of a Half Moon Bay business that uses fish to grow plants is the latest Bay Area resident charged by federal prosecutors in connection with the Capitol invasion last year.

Kenneth Armstrong III of Pescadero was arrested Thursday and charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington with entering a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct, and parading or demonstrating in the Capitol.

He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin pending a transfer of his case to Washington.

Armstrong is the owner of Ouroboros Farms in Half Moon Bay, a company specializing in "aquaponics," in which fish waste is used to grow plants in water.

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An FBI affidavit made reference to a YouTube video in which Armstrong, seen at his farm, sits next to a tank and says, "This tank we have our koi and our ornamental fish, and the rest of our tanks we have rainbow trout."

"We’re an open source thing, and we have to show you the good with the bad as well. And so one of the other mistakes that happens in aquaponics systems is improper management of pests or diseases," Armstrong says on the video. 

Armstrong calls himself "Big Fish," on his company's website.

The FBI says it got an anonymous tip three days after the Capitol was invaded, that identified Armstrong as a participant.  Agents later paid him a visit at his farm. 

Authorities said Armstrong admitted to going inside the Capitol and was captured on closed-circuit TV recording video on his cell phone.

The FBI says Armstrong wrote on Facebook that he "took some pictures and video, sang the star-spangled banner, talked to some of the capitol police and then left the way we came in."

He may have been surrounded by like-minded individuals that day, but at least one of his acquaintances disagreed.

In the FBI affidavit, an agent noted a Facebook post from a person who wondered who would take care of Armstrong's "fish, plants and bacteria while you’re being charged for treason."

That person later added, "My problem is that I am friends with a traitor, a fascist, a liar and a thug. I will very much enjoy unfriending you now."