Newport Beach woman arrested and charged in connection with Jan. 6 insurrection at U.S. Capitol

A Newport Beach woman will face federal charges after she was arrested in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Michelle Estey of Newport Beach was arrested Friday in Orange County, along with Melanie Belger of Mission Viejo, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A complaint against Estey and Belger was first filed on Sept. 16. Both are charged with four offenses, including: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

An FBI special agent based in Southern California wrote in a report filed with the complaint that the organization was tipped off about Estey and Belger’s alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The agent said both women are believed to be shown in a YouTube video titled “D.C. Burning — Jan. 6 DC Riots.”

Last December, the agent said he interviewed a longtime family friend of the 53-year-old Estey. The friend identified her in a screencap of the video that shows a woman with blond hair and a Trump beanie in Capitol Building room ST2M.

A cellphone registered to Estey’s husband was also identified as using a cell site that served the interior of the U.S. Capitol building, according to the report.

In order to access the Capitol building room, Estey had to climb through a broken window, the agent wrote. She was inside the room for several minutes with other rioters who were destroying furniture and rummaging through desks and drawers, the agent wrote, before she exited the room before crawling back out through the broken window.

Estey and Belger are both due in federal court on Oct. 4.

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