Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.

The Pentagon has hired a convicted January 6 rioter to work in a Defense Department office that manages highly classified military operations, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Elias Irizarry — a 24-year-old Trump loyalist who took part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021 — has been hired at the Defense Department’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office in the ‘irregular warfare and counterterrorism’ section. This office covers particularly classified issues including embassy security, hostage rescue, and personnel recovery.

Irizarry has no career experience in counterterrorism. His LinkedIn profile states that he began working at the Department of Defense — now called the Department of War – in March of 2025. It also states that he graduated from military college in 2024.

At the time of the Capitol riot, Irizarry was a 19-year-old freshman at The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, and a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol.

In 2022, he pled guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in the Capitol, and was........

© Truthout