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A Proud Boys leader is now in federal custody after taking part in the Capitol siege and then claiming he was there as a reporter ... something law enforcement clearly ain't buying.

Nicholas Ochs -- who heads up the Hawaii faction of the far-right extremist group -- was arrested by FBI agents after touching down at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu ... this following his trip to D.C. to storm the Capitol.

According to an unsealed indictment, the feds are charging Ochs with unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds -- and they cite evidence they say Ochs himself laid out on social media and CNN ... the later to whom he made the ridiculous "journalist" comment.

The day after the insurrection, he claimed he was there working as a professional journalist, seemingly saying he had a right to be there and was not part of the riot. He also said he didn't break in ... he simply entered without incident.

Adding insult to injury ... the guy also posted a photo of him smoking a cigarette with a buddy, with a caption attached that reads, "Hello from the Capital lol."

There was a frightening call to arms this past week ... "When the ballot box is gone, there is only the cartridge box. You have made bullets expensive. But luckily for you, ropes are reusable."

Thing is ... this was the day before the insurrection, and 2,800 miles from the Capitol.

Last Tuesday, the day before the attempted coup on Capitol Hill, there was a scheduled meeting in Northern California of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors. The meeting was supposed to be all virtual, because the pandemic in California has spiraled out of control.

That didn't sit well with a couple of supervisors, including newly-elected Patrick Jones, and a bunch of residents who wanted inside the official chambers. The Supervisor let dozens of angry residents inside, most of whom were angry over COVID restrictions, but there were threats ... plenty of threats, like, "Civil war is brewing."

Timothy Fairfield is the man who talked about the cartridge box. He added, "Flee now while you can, because the days of your tyranny are drawing to a close and the legitimacy of this government is waning."

Carlos Zapata, who has reportedly been a member of California State Militia and appears on Alex Jones' "InfoWars," is active in Shasta County and thinking of running for office. After the coup attempt in D.C., he told the L.A. Times, "Without the threat of physical violence, our words are empty ... By calling for violence, am I saying, 'Hey, let's go kill people?' Absolutely not, and I never have ... But I am saying that we're at the point now where we have to consider the threat of violence to protect ourselves."

Zapata had some choice words about the Capitol riots ... "People say, Oh, man, those people at the Capitol, they were violent. That's un-American ... I'm like, the most American thing they could have done is burned that f***** down."

Zapata is on video from last August at a Supervisor's meeting, threatening war and a rebellion.

As for Supervisor Jones, he called the attempted coup in D.C. "unfortunate."

Miya Ponsetto's October DUI (the second such arrest in 4 months) was filmed by bystanders ... and yes, it's about as wild as we've come to expect, ending with this rant to cops: "There are gang members killing people right now and you're arresting a girl?"

TMZ has obtained video of Miya's arrest Oct. 3 in Ventura County -- for which she was charged with DUI, resisting arrest and obstructing/delaying a peace officer or EMT -- and the accusations against her seem pretty solid ... because she was absolutely out of control.

An eyewitness tells us ... the drama started when Miya and her mom, Nicole, stopped on the side of a road ... screaming and cussing at each other while outside of their Range Rover.

The witness says she tried seeing if they needed help, but Miya got back in the car and demanded her mom do the same ... at which point, the witness says they recklessly drove off. The witness called the cops and tailed them, fearing Miya might've been intoxicated by the way she was driving. Eventually, they all pulled into a gas station.

That's where things hit the fan, especially when cops showed up. They attempted to detain Miya, who threw a fit the entire time ... demanding to see a warrant, demanding to know what she'd done wrong, insulting the officers, squirming around to avoid cuffs ... everything.

You can watch for yourself and make up your own mind -- but her actions here are certainly in line with other behavior of hers on camera ... be it at the Arlo Hotel or with Gayle King.

Cops say they eventually were able to get a reading on her blood alcohol level -- .14, nearly twice the legal limit.

Remember, this is Miya's second arrest -- she was hit with the first DUI in Malibu (where she was also allegedly combative) back in May and pled no contest, so she was on probation. Getting arrested and charged with DUI could be enough for her to do jail time ... not to mention her NYC case. BTW ... there's also a pending case where she was charged with being drunk in public at the Peninsula hotel in Bev Hills.

Of course, Miya's now on the East Coast, where she faces a slew of charges for attacking Keyon Harrold's 14-year-old son and accusing him of stealing her phone. She was in Court Saturday for arraignment but did not enter a plea. She was then released from custody.

There's more evidence that the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol had inside help.

TMZ broke the story ... the FBI believes there are people who work in the Capitol who may have assisted rioters in navigating the building ... in many cases without resistance.

Congressman Jim Clyburn had his office looted ... we know an iPad was stolen. We're told the Congressman, who has been sharply critical of Trump, is angry that the rioters found his office, which does NOT have a nameplate ... the door is unmarked, yet the rioters somehow picked that door as opposed to hundreds of others.

High-ranking Capitol police sources say Clyburn and other members believe someone from the inside must have helped located key offices.

As we reported, the FBI is especially suspicious of the way rioters zeroed in on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. It's virtually impossible to find in the maze, yet the rioters were inside her office within 11 minutes.

The FBI is looking to see if some Capitol cops were involved in helping the rioters. We're told authorities are looking at cell phone data -- especially from cell phones of the hundreds of officers who were off duty -- to see if they were in the building at the time of the riot. We're told the FBI is also looking at other staff who work in the building.

Arnold Schwarzenegger just delivered a stirring message to the country, warning people, remnants of Nazi Germany that he saw have a striking similarity to what we all just saw.

Arnold displayed the Conan sword and used it as a metaphor to describe how the United States can triumph over the Capitol rioters who want to tear this country apart. You gotta hear his description ... it rings true.

The former Cali Guv, who was born in Austria 2 years after the Nazis lost WWII, compared the Nazis to the rioters.

He talked about Kristallnacht -- The Night of Broken Glass -- where the Nazis went on a rampage against the Jews in 1938 and then said the Proud Boys were the Nazi equivalent.  He says last Wednesday was our Night of Broken Glass.

Arnold called the elected officials and other leaders who have been empowering Trump "spineless," saying they were too cowardly to stand up to the worst President in our history.

And, Arnold offered something interesting ... an understanding of what's behind the rioters.

He explained something he told Harvey during an episode of "Objectified," where he said as a child his dad was a failed Nazi supporter who lost the war, became a drunk and was physically abusive to young Arnold. He said his dad was like other dads in his neighborhood -- angry and abusive. He's clearly comparing the failed Nazis to the insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol.

Miya Ponsetto -- aka SoHo 'Karen' -- isn't going to court kicking and screaming the way she allegedly has when getting arrested ... this time cops made sure it wouldn't happen, with the help of a couple restraints.

Here's Miya being led out of an NYC police precinct in lower Manhattan Saturday by a couple of detectives who are escorting her to a waiting vehicle, which is set to take her to Manhattan Criminal Court ... where she's expected to be arraigned on a slew of charges.

Check out Miya ... she's obviously handcuffed, but her feet are shackled as well. She's also got a face mask on, a beanie, black leggings and Birkenstocks ... similar to what she wore when she attacked 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. at the Arlo Hotel in SoHo, falsely claiming he stole her iPhone.

As for her feet being bound ... it's interesting. Miya's got a documented history of allegedly resisting arrest -- in fact, cops say she did exactly that when they picked her up most recently and extradited her to NYC. Time after time, she appears to put up a fight.

Miya's been rung up on a ton of charges -- including attempted robbery, grand larceny, acting in a manner injurious to a child and two counts of attempted assault -- but she hasn't been charged with a hate crime, which is telling.

Keyon Jr.'s parents and their attorney, Ben Crump, made it clear this week on 'TMZ Live' ... there are two justice systems in this country, and that Black people often get the short end of the stick when authorities pursue justice on their behalf. They want her charged with a hate crime.

As for Saturday's scheduled arraignment ... we're hearing she should appear before a judge sometime this evening. No word yet on whether Miya plans to enter a plea.

President Trump might have to resort to opening a MySpace account to be "online" -- because the guy can't get bandwidth anywhere else right now ... not even on Shopify.

DT has been banned from a handful of social media apps and social networking websites well beyond Twitter and Facebook/Instagram -- which booted him earlier this week after they say he used their platforms to incite a violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.

Since then ... even more companies have taken steps to keep their pages Trump-free, including some you never thought the Prez might use, be it posting or consuming.

Among those that've blocked/restricted Trump and/or Trump content -- Pinterest (for #StoptheSteal items), Shopify (for MAGA and other related merch), Twitch (no more Trump live streams), Snapchat (gone is Trump's account), Reddit (the r/The_Donald thread is dead) and even TikTok (which Trump was trying to ban himself, ironically enough).

Remember, Twitter pulled the plug permanently on Trump's Twitter account -- his go-to platform the past several years -- citing further potential calls to violence, directly or indirectly ... this after Trump's 12-hour suspension expired, and he tweeted to his "patriots" yet again.

Twitter's move to boot him for good also came after Facebook/Instagram did something similar ... suspending his account indefinitely, at least until Biden's inauguration is done.

There is one place Trump could possibly turn to in order to get his voice on the Internet again -- Parler (a social networking site/app that caters to the extreme right) is still open for business ... but it too is at risk of getting blacklisted on mainstream app stores.

Google already nixed it entirely -- meaning you can't download it anymore if you're an Android user -- but Apple hasn't done so yet. On Friday, they gave Parler a 24-hour deadline to provide stricter guidelines about regulating posts ... but, it's still available as of now.

The insurrectionists at the Capitol were out to harm and possibly kill Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the video that has just surfaced makes this all pretty much undeniable.

New video has surfaced from Wednesday's attempted coup, and in one clip you hear a loud, chant ... "Hang Mike Pence, Hang Mike Pence ..."  Of course, Pence had made it clear just hours earlier ... he was going to certify Biden's victory.

The mob had the tools to make their chant a reality ... a full-on gallows scaffold, with a hanging noose attached.

And then, there's this video ... the mob going after Nancy Pelosi with a vengeance, trying to hunt her down in the Capitol, calling her a "bitch," a "traitor," and then they used the c-word. You hear a few mobsters order at Capitol cops, "Tell Pelosi we're coming for that bitch. Tell f***ing Pelosi we're coming for her."

Remember ... they found Pelosi's office in the Capitol maze in a New York minute, and that's one of the pieces of the puzzle the FBI is looking at ... the feds believe this could have been an inside job, where people who work at the building helped the rioters.

Of course, there's also the shot of the guy in tactical gear holding what appears to be a bunch of zip ties in hand. He actually made it onto the Senate floor, and seemed intent on using those things, given the opportunity.

And, there were bombs, guns, etc ... all the stuff killers use to execute their plan.

Shots of Capitol police officers letting pro-Trump rioters easily pass their line and facilitate the storming of the Capitol appears to be a practice that's been in place from sea to shining sea since at least December ... because something similar happened in Oregon.

Republican State Representative Mike Nearman was caught on surveillance video -- which was just released -- opening a side door to the Oregon State Capitol ... and then letting a sea of Trumpers in by allowing the door to slowly close behind, and never looking back.

This happened Dec. 21 during a special legislative session regarding COVID restrictions in the State, where pro-Trump demonstrators had gathered outside to protest shutdowns ... while literally banging on the glass doors trying to break their way in (just like at the U.S. Capitol).

Well, thanks to Rep. Nearman ... he made their breach a whole lot easier, because the guy literally pops open the door to the outside and casually passes the waiting mob -- which then proceed to storm inside. They were quickly met by cops and security, who pushed them back, but it looks like at least a few guys were able to get inside, if only for a bit.

The legislative session continued uninterrupted, and after a few invaders were arrested. Still ... things could've quickly turned left here. As for Nearman, he's been mum thus far about this -- refusing to respond to questions about it.

With a smoking gun as clear as this -- not to mention what we saw with our eyes just a few days ago in D.C. -- it's obvious that some people in power want to unleash mayhem.

The guy most everyone (infamously) remembers as the bare-chested insurrectionist with animal horns and face paint who stormed into the Capitol is now in federal custody.

Jacob Chansley -- more commonly known as Jake Angeli, per prosecutors -- was arrested Saturday in Phoenix on charges of knowingly entering/remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

He was arrested along with two other Arizona men, who officials say also stormed the premise. However, Chansley stands above the rest because of his wild outfit.

BTW, apparently, it was pretty easy to identify him ... prosecutors say they matched the guy's many photos from Wednesday with social media posts, including his YouTube channel. He also appears to have posed with one Rudy Giuliani not too long ago, this past November ... something Twitter users were quick to repost from his purported FB once it was deleted.

Not only that, but he even called the FBI and straight-up confessed to being the horned man everyone saw roaming around with a spear and flag, and desecrating the building.

According to prosecutors, Chansley said he came with other "patriots" because President Trump had instructed them to on Jan. 6 ... plain and simple. Prosecutors went on to say they're considering even more charges against Chansley.

The sign language interpreter who went viral for his good looks is finding work easier to come by now ... thanks to celebs like Halle Berry.

Billy Sanders, now affectionately known as #ASLbae after signing for Mayor Muriel Bowser during the riots, tells TMZ ... he's getting tons of job requests -- double his normal workload -- with inquiries pouring in from all over the country and even overseas.

Billy says he's tickled by all the attention he's getting from Halle and a bunch of popular TikTokers ... and he hopes the spotlight shining on him encourages more minorities to pursue careers as ASL interpreters.

Before his newfound fame, Billy was already pretty popular on the music scene ... working concerts with go-go bands and Kirk Franklin before the pandemic. Now he's getting hit up by hospitals, urgent care centers, non-profits, major conferences and even mental health facilities .. all of whom want a piece of Billy!

SoHo 'Karen' Miya Ponsetto's wrongdoing on the other side of the country has finally caught up with her in Los Angeles ... she was just taken into custody.

Law enforcement sources tell us they arrested Ponsetto Thursday in a joint effort by the Ventura County Sheriff and NYPD. We're told she's expected to be charged with attempted robbery for falsely accusing and assaulting a 14-year-old black child.

As we reported, officers from the NYPD were looking for Ponsetto after video surfaced showing the 22-year-old attacking a 14-year-old who she had accused of stealing her cell phone at the Arlo SoHo hotel in NYC. She tried to take the boy's personal phone during the attack, ridiculously believing it must be hers.

Ponsetto left to California shortly after the December 26 incident, laying low with her mom, but was spotted outside a McDonald's just last week.

Ponsetto has a history of run-ins with the law including 2 DUI busts in 2020 and getting arrested with her mom in February for allegedly being drunk in public at the Peninsula hotel in Bev Hills.

As for the 14-year-old who she attacked, Keyon Harrold Jr., his father tells us the family is seeking trauma therapy for their son.

Ponsetto's attorney, Sharen H. Ghatan, tells us the attack wasn't racially motivated, but instead a result of an anxiety attack. As for her phone ... that was later found in an Uber and returned to her.

Ghatan says she was unaware of Ponsetto's arrest, but says, "Miya has not grasped the severity of her circumstances. She is expressly disregarding advice and has gone rogue."

Ghatan continues, "I had an in-person meeting with Miya today, and after seeing her in person, I was able to determine she is simply unwell. She is emotionally and mentally fragile. I was forced to cancel national interviews due to my concern of her wellbeing and lack of understanding of the process. I am here to guide her as legal counsel - but if she is unwilling to take my advice, there is not much more I can do."

Tony Lopez -- one of the popular members of TikTok's Hype House -- used social media to "groom" and have sex with 2 teenage girls ... at least according to an explosive new lawsuit, but he denies the allegations.

The underage girls -- suing under the aliases H.L. Doe and C.H. Doe -- both claim 21-year-old Lopez first began communicating with them via text and social media despite knowing they were minors ... and say he tried to coerce them into meeting for sexual encounters.

H.L. alleges Lopez first lured her away from her friends on Jan. 4, 2020 and engaged in unlawful sexual acts with her ... including oral and vaginal sex. In the suit, the teen claims she told him she was 16 before that encounter, but later admitted she was really 15.

Even so, she alleges they had sex again on Jan. 19 at his place in Nevada -- and that Lopez told her not to take any pics with her phone because he wanted to keep their relationship secret.

The other accuser, C.H., claims she met Lopez in April 2020 when she was invited to the Hype House in L.A. by one of its founders, Thomas Petrou. She claims they exchanged text and Snapchat info, and Lopez -- knowing she was 16 -- almost immediately began soliciting nude photos or video from her.

C.H. alleges Lopez sent a photo of himself with the caption, "Show me your boobs," and repeatedly tried to coerce her into sending explicit photos or sneaking out to meet him to have sex.

She says she always declined, but according to the suit ... he allegedly sent her nude photos exposing his penis.

Both girls are suing Lopez for sexual battery and emotional distress. They're also suing Hype House and its founders -- including Petrou and Chase Hudson -- for negligence.

Lopez tells TMZ ... "These allegations are not at all true. I never sent nudes to these women and didn’t ask them to send me pictures either. And, I certainly wouldn’t have sex with someone who told me they were underage."

Michelle Obama sees 2 Americas when she looks at the attempted coup -- one with the police response to pro-Trump rioters, and the other a much different response to BLM protesters.

The former First Lady just shared her thoughts on Wednesday's chaos at the Capitol ... and she says one of the things that strikes her most is the massive gulf between how police handled that situation ... compared to last summer's demonstrations.

Michelle says the folks rioting Wednesday would not have been allowed to walk free after laying siege to the Capitol, setting up gallows, waving Confederate flags and "desecrating the center of American government" if they looked like the folks who go to Martin Luther King Jr.'s church.

Driving her point home, Michelle points out BLM demonstrators were greeted with cracked skulls, mass arrests and pepper spray during peaceful protests.

Michelle says there's a lot of work to be done in this country, as some Americans are allowed to "denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation" ... while others are labeled "unpatriotic for taking a knee in silent protest."

Barack Obama also spoke out against the riots ... but his response strikes a much different tone than his wife's.

Nothing was spared in or around the Capitol in the chaos and destruction triggered by President Trump ... including the Inauguration stage which suffered significant damage.

TMZ got these pics showing the stage's siding torn to shreds ... as it appears the insurrectionists were gung-ho to do maximum damage. The stage itself is still standing, but it's gonna need a lot of repairs.

In a move that's clearly coming one day too late ... security's erecting 8-foot high fencing.

There are also guards now standing watch over the construction that had been going on for at least 5 months.

As we reported ... work had been ramping up on the West Front of the Capitol. At the time, it was hard to tell what the setup would look like ... whether it would be a scaled-down version of past inaugurations ... due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It remains to be seen how Wednesday's deadly violence at the Capitol will change final plans for Inauguration Day.

Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot in the Capitol as she and other Trump supporters stormed into the building, was pumped up after the President's speech ... and posted one last video as she entered the mayhem.

Ashli went live on Facebook Wednesday in the moments leading up to the coup attempt in D.C., boasting that she was part of the mob marching to the Capitol.

The 35-year-old California native and Air Force veteran claimed there were more than 3 million pro-Trump protesters in D.C. along with her ... and she appeared zealous about what they were doing.

As we reported ... Babbitt was draped in a Trump flag as she jumped up on a window pane and tried to charge through.

Tragically, she was hit by a gunshot -- fired by Capital Police -- during the chaos and was seen falling backward onto the marble floor with blood pouring out of her upper body area.

Babbitt was transferred to the hospital in critical condition, where she later died of her injuries.

Steven A. Sund, Chief of Police for the US Capitol Police, says the employee who fired on Babbitt has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.