The Pentagon has appointed a rioter convicted for his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection to a sensitive national security role dealing with counterterrorism, overriding insiders’ concerns about his past record.
Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the storming of the US Capitol, has been appointed to a position in the US Department of Defense’s special operations and low intensity conflict office which manages highly classified military operations, causing alarm among Pentagon officials.
Background of the Appointment
The story was first reported by the Washington Post, which published a picture of Irizarry – holding what appeared to be a metal pole and wearing a pro-Donald Trump Make America Great Again (Maga) hat – looking over a wall on the day of the riot.
Irizarry was 19 at the time of the attack, which took place after Trump supporters marched on the Capitol seeking to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election, which was won by Joe Biden but which Trump falsely claimed was stolen. He expressed regret and apologized for his actions in court, but was criticized by the judge in his case for failing to stop the violence, despite having been in a position to do so.
Irizarry has since graduated from the Citadel military academy in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was a student at the time.
Reactions and Concerns
It was unclear who was responsible for his appointment, the Post reported. But Pentagon officials are said to have voiced dismay that someone involved in a full-frontal assault on US democracy could be installed in such a sensitive post. Five people died during or in the immediate aftermath of the event. Four police officers involved in trying to resist the attack died by suicide in the months afterwards.
According to the Post, Irizarry will serve in a position attached to a counterterrorism and irregular warfare team comprising about 40 people. The team’s responsibilities are said to cover areas including embassy security, personnel recovery and hostage rescue.
“In the case of rescue/extraction missions, it can place our special operators in some of the most complex and dangerous environments we ask of them,” said one person, speaking anonymously, told the newspaper. “To put someone so junior and new to DoD, and with such a checkered background, into such a sensitive portfolio raises serious questions for leadership.”
Pentagon Defense
Joel Valdez, the Pentagon’s acting press secretary, confirmed and defended the appointment in an email, while attacking the Washington Post journalists who first reported on his appointment.
“Mr Elias Irizarry is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee at the Department of War,” said Valdez. “Unlike Mr Irizarry, the Washington Post does not care about national security given its track record of low-tier reporters publishing and soliciting classified information that could hurt our nation on a daily basis.”
Irizarry's Legal and Personal History
Irizarry pleaded guilty to charges of entering and remaining at a restricted building and was sentenced to 14 days in jail, according to court filings. He expressed remorse at his 2023 sentencing, saying: “I am ashamed because I will always be a part of this disgrace. January 6th represented something truly horrible; it was the largest attack on our democracy since the civil war.”
His record before the rioting has been “quite commendable”, the judge at the sentencing, Tanya Chutkan said. She offered to write him a letter to help him reapply to the Citadel, from which he had been discharged because of his involvement in the episode. He was later readmitted and graduated in 2024.
He has since run unsuccessfully for a seat in the South Carolina state legislature, losing in a 2024 Republican primary.
