Two York County men charged in Jan. 6 rioting at U.S. Capitol

Two York County men and another from Harrisburg, allegedly members of a group called FreePA, have been arrested by the FBI for entering the U.S. Capitol during the rioting on Jan. 6, 2021. One of them was just elected to the York County Republican Committee.

Brian Korte of York Haven, Lynwood Nester of Dillsburg and Michael Pomeroy of Harrisburg have been charged with entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and attempting to impede government business, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Nester and Korte allegedly remained in the Capitol for nearly 11 minutes, and Pomeroy stayed for 20, according to the FBI.

In the May 17 primary election, Nester won enough votes (279) to be elected by Monaghan Township voters for the county Republican committee.

He and the other two men met with members of FreePA while in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, according to charging documents. The FBI calls the group "a Pennsylvania based political group."

According to its website, "FreePA members are United States of America and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania patriots volunteering together to restore and protect our rights and freedoms by using action, action, action!"

The website points to an April 30 meeting of 40 "patriot" groups in Allentown that wrote an "Election Integrity Declaration." It says, in part, "We the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania do hereby demand that the Pennsylvania state legislature immediately return the commonwealth to in-person voting on Election Day, with the exceptions as noted in the PA election code prior to Act 77, with photo identification, proof of U.S. citizenship, state residency and hard copy paper ballots."

Among the groups affiliated with FreePA that signed the election document, according to the website, were: Bucks First, UnitePA, Women for Trump E. PA, Audit the Vote PA, Right for Bucks, Moms for Liberty, SE PA Freedom Fighters and Grassroots Unite PA.

Who they are:70 Pennsylvania residents arrested for involvement in Capitol insurrection

Death:Pennsylvania man, involved in U.S. Capitol rioting, dies of 'broken heart'

Another action on the website calls for a training opportunity in June by Scott Klusendorf, "one of North America's leading pro-life apologists." It will "train you to speak in a way that affirms life persuasively," the website says.

Since the Jan. 6 rioting, authorities have charged nearly 800 people with participating in it, as of May 24, 2022. At least 278 have entered a guilty plea, and of those, 166 have been sentenced.  Four of those charged have been convicted at trial. Judges have handed down 59 sentences that included jail time.

Florida has the most residents charged, with 89, including Jonathan Pollock who continues to elude authorities. Texas is in second place at 70, followed by Pennsylvania (68), New York (56) and California (52).

At least 114 of those charged have been aligned with an extremist group or philosophy, including at least 43 Proud Boys, 26 Oath Keepers and 23 linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory.

At least 76 had served or were serving in the U.S. military, including at least 30 who had served in the Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve.

Kim Strong can be reached at kstrong@gannett.com.