Barbara "Barby" Balmaseda — a 23-year-old from Miami Lakes with ties to high-profile Republican politicians in Florida and beyond — was arrested and charged with corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, and engaging in disorderly conduct in a Capitol building with the intent to impede a session of Congress on January 6, 2021.
Balmaseda was arrested on December 14 in Miami Lakes.
"U.S. Capitol Police closed-circuit television captured Balmaseda entering the Capitol building via the Senate Wing door at approximately 2:16 p.m., just four minutes after rioters initially breached the building," the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges.
"When Balmaseda entered the building, broken glass was scattered on the ground, and an alarm blared near the doorway," the DOJ says. "After entering the Capitol, Balmaseda made her way toward the Crypt and pushed her way to the front of a crowd of rioters who were confronting a police line."
As previously reported by New Times (see "Did Marco Rubio's Former Intern Storm the Capitol?"), Balmaseda interned for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio between 2018 and 2019, worked as an organizer on Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2018 campaign, and served as campaign manager for Ileana Garcia's controversial 2020 Florida Senate race.
Balmaseda was also previously listed as director at-large on the website of Miami Young Republicans and served as regional director for Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends, a self-described free-market climate advocacy campaign.
Her attorney, Aubrey Webb, tells New Times that a task force of FBI, U.S. Marshals, and Miami-Dade Police swarmed in to execute her arrest last week.
"When the FBI contacted us over a year ago, I told them that she will voluntarily surrender if they ever want to arrest her. We are also disappointed that it took almost three years for DOJ to decide to charge her," Webb says. "She has no criminal history, and the government has not charged her with any violence or destruction of property."
The FBI affidavit states that in the time leading up to the riot, Balmaseda created and frequented a Telegram group chat which included at least ten participants, including Gabriel Garcia and other Miami-area members of the far-right Proud Boys. Balmaseda, who at one point renamed the group chat "Barby’s Security :)" and "Barby’s Security Detail," sent roughly 900 messages to the group between November 2020 and January 2021.
On November 6, 2020, as the presidential race inched toward a conclusion, Balmaseda allegedly texted in the chat: “Y’all think Biden’s gonna steal this election?”
Three days later, after Garcia wrote in the group chat, "We are in La Carreta ready to fuck shit up again," Balmaseda responded, "I’ll get the popcorn ready to watch y’all fuck shit up," alongside a laughing emoji, according to the affidavit
Barbara Balmaseda is a 23-year-old Republican strategist who was once listed as director at-large of the Miami Young Republicans group.
FBI arrest warrant exhibit
The DOJ alleges that Balmaseda texted back and forth with Garcia and other members of the Proud Boys, expressing her belief that the 2020 election was stolen, while making note of the certification process scheduled to take place on January 6. Her number was saved in Garcia’s phone as "Barbarita Balmaseda," and text messages show the duo coordinating their travel together to Washington, D.C.
On the morning of January 6, Balmaseda was photographed in the Black Lives Matter plaza wearing a black leather jacket with a shearling collar and a red "KEEP AMERICA GREAT" hat alongside Garcia, the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, she was later near a mob of rioters on the west front of the Capitol grounds and was seen on video climbing on equipment staged in preparation for the presidential inauguration. Once she entered the Capitol with Garcia, she moved deeper into the building as rioters confronted and pushed back police lines.
"At approximately 3:11 p.m., law enforcement officers received additional support in the Rotunda and were able to corral rioters, Balmaseda included, towards the nearest exit, the Rotunda doors," the DOJ says.
Just after midnight, she sent a meme to Garcia showing a Cheeto substituting as a door lock, with the caption: "the Capitol today."
Webb says Balmaseda was charged with one felony under U.S.C. 1512 for obstructing an official proceeding, as well as four misdemeanors.
"She is relieved this process will finally move toward a final resolution. Her arrest was a waste of law enforcement resources," he says.
The Department of Justice says Barbara Balmaseda was caught on camera pushing deeper into the Capitol as rioters confronted police and pushed back law enforcement lines.
FBI arrest warrant exhibit
Webb notes that the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the case of January 6 defendant Joseph Fischer, which could decide whether the felony obstruction provision under which Balmaseda and many other Capitol riot defendants have been charged only applies in circumstances of evidence-tampering. Fischer secured dismissal of a felony count against him on those grounds, though a federal appeals court reversed, writing that the provision applies to "all forms of corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding."
In the months following the insurrection, online sleuths, including the group Sedition Hunters, zeroed in on Balmaseda — whom they dubbed "#PinkGaiterPBG." She appeared to have been photographed inside the Capitol sporting a baseball cap with an American flag and a black-and-pink gaiter, and later alongside Garcia and Ethan Nordean, both of whom have been convicted of felonies in connection with the insurrection.
A former Vice City Proud Boy, who was at the Capitol on January 6 and spoke on the condition that he not be named for fear of retaliation, previously told New Times that Balmaseda was there with Garcia. "Barby was there," he said.
