AUSTIN, Minn. — Online evidence suggests the Johnson father and son, arrested Thursday for roles in the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, were deep into Trump conspiracy theories, including wild exaggerations of fact.

> The son on crowd size the night of the riot: “Couple thousand. Lol try like 4 million people.” Most experts peg the number at the Trump incitement rally at 30,000 tops. Not all made the one-mile trek to the Capitol.

> The night before his arrest, the father posted: “Governments worldwide are struggling to contain a new virus that could have a huge impact on billions of lives worldwide. The virus is called TRUTH.”

> Another post: “If you are just now thinking that Fauci is full of shit, you are months behind some of us.” Anthony Fauci is a leading immunologist  who for 50 years has been  among the most frequently cited scientists in medical journals. His awards include treatments that ended AIDS as an epidemic.

> Another: “Unvaccinated lives matter.” A racist takeoff on the Black Lives Matter movement.

> Another with a hypodermic needle image: “Proudly unvaccinated.”

Earlier: Father, son busted for Capitol riot role

Local prominence

The Johnson were well known in St. Ansgar, which made it easy for locals to identify them from Capitol riot images. Daryl’s father, Norm Johnson, is a retired business operator and former mayor of Ansgar, population 1,100. He ran a pizza shop and sold insurance for many tears. Asked by a Des Moines Register reporter about the arrest of his son and grandson, Johnson declined: “”I have plenty of thoughts, but I’m not going to share them.”

Siege vanguard. Johnson claimed to be among first to storm the Capitol. Image: FBI