Ex-Cops and veterans parts of the pro-Trump mob in the Capitol siege.

Joshua Bote, SFGATE Jan. 7, 2021

An ex-Oakland police officer and veteran was part of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

In an interview with KPIX-TV Wednesday evening, Jurell Snyder defended the unrest and espoused right-wing conspiracy theories to reporter Joe Vazquez.

“The intention was for it to be peaceful,” Snyder said. “People were frustrated and angry and they were at the front of the Capitol.”

He also suggested that the police on the scene “wanted us to be disruptive,” based on a video posted by reporter Marcus DiPaola on TikTok where it appeared that federal police pushed aside fencing that blocked off the entrance to the Capitol building. “People were unable to hold that anger in,” he said.

When Vazquez suggested that the people in attendance could face criminal charges for trespassing, he brushed off the claim and alluded to right-wing falsehoods that suggest that the Democratic Party conspired to “take” the election.

Multiple officials, including Trump’s former Attorney General William Barr, have confirmed that no fraud took place in the 2020 elections.

“I think those people who trespassed into the Capitol building would be happy to take a criminal penalty,” Snyder said. “They’ll take that … if the Democrats who committed fraud take the criminal charges of treason.”

“What do you think’s worse, Joe, storming the Capitol with a flag or committing treason against your country?” he added.

“Jurell, to put it plainly, you may be in some legal jeopardy in here participating in that,” Vazquez responded.

Snyder did not provide his full name to KPIX, but according to what appears to be his LinkedIn, Snyder served on Oakland’s police force from December 2006 to August 2015. He also was on active duty from 2003 to 2005 and served in the National Guard from 2006 to 2009.

He left the force to work at private digital forensics technology firms, and founded a company last year that “uses data analytics as an investigative tool for police departments and prisons.”

Snyder did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.