CLEARWATER, Fla. — FBI agents at a Clearwater condominium complex arrested a fugitive after he skipped trial on several charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Victor Sean Dennison, 49, was taken into custody late Monday hours after law enforcement was called to the Woodlake Condominiums, located in the area of Sunset Point Road and North Hercules Avenue, jail records show.
He was released Tuesday morning into U.S. Marshals Service custody. A spokesperson at the FBI office in Tampa said Dennison was arrested without incident. During his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon, he was ordered detained and will be transferred to Washington, D.C., the spokesperson added.
Dennison failed to appear on charges connected to the Jan. 6 investigation in 2023 after his initial arrest, according to court documents. Those include entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capital building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.
An anonymous person sent a tip to the FBI on Jan. 18, 2021, that contained a video posted to Dennison's Facebook page of Dennison saying he went into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the criminal complaint. He was seen wearing a baseball cap with the slogan, "ALL ABOARD THE TRUMP TRAIN," and the video appeared to have been taken in the Washington, D.C., area.
The complaint states that the FBI interviewed Dennison on June 9, 2021, and he admitted to attending a pro-Trump rally. After watching former President Donald Trump's speech at the Ellipse near the White House, he said he joined the crowd on a march to the Capitol.
After noticing the doors to the Capitol were breached, he admitted to walking inside, the complaint continues. Dennison then said he left after hearing someone state, "They're going to start shooting people." The investigator wrote Dennison said "the statement frightened him," so he left.
Surveillance video from inside the building showed who investigators said was Dennison entering the building at 2:49 p.m. and exiting at 2:51 p.m.
Dennison also admitted to the FBI that the next day, he took the video of himself and another person in front of the U.S. Supreme Court where he described his experience at the Capitol, the complaint said. He reportedly said, in part, "Ok, so here’s some more on that . . . the point she’s talking about, I had already gone inside, and I had a chance to inspect the scene and decided to remove myself from the area."
The FBI confirmed on Monday that it was conducting "court-authorized activity" at the Clearwater condo complex but could not immediately provide additional details. A 10 Tampa Bay photographer at the scene witnessed FBI and local police personnel, in addition to what appeared to be an armored SWAT vehicle.
Dennison's Facebook profile, as identified by the FBI in its complaint, has been active in recent months. In January, the self-described singer-songwriter published a song on his profile titled "Can't Outrun Yourself."