Frank Scavo is seen in this file photo from our news partners at Fox 56. The The Old Forge Republican told this newspaper and other media outlets he was not inside the U.S. Capitol when it was invaded by insurrectionists last week. Media photographs suggest otherwise.
                                 Courtesy Fox 56

Frank Scavo is seen in this file photo from our news partners at Fox 56. The The Old Forge Republican told this newspaper and other media outlets he was not inside the U.S. Capitol when it was invaded by insurrectionists last week. Media photographs suggest otherwise.

Courtesy Fox 56

Actions of two NEPA residents in D.C. come under scrutiny

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<p>Wilkes-Barre resident Martin Dartoe is seen in a file photo. Dartoe told the Times Leader that he was in Washington, D.C. with other demonstrators on Jan. 6, and that he he climbed a wall outside the Capitol but did not scale the building or enter the interior.</p>
                                 <p>Times Leader file photo</p>

Wilkes-Barre resident Martin Dartoe is seen in a file photo. Dartoe told the Times Leader that he was in Washington, D.C. with other demonstrators on Jan. 6, and that he he climbed a wall outside the Capitol but did not scale the building or enter the interior.

Times Leader file photo

Was Frank Scavo inside the U.S. Capitol as mayhem reigned last week or not?

The Old Forge resident told this newspaper and other media outlets he was not. Media photographs suggest otherwise.

Two Getty Images photos appear to show Republican Scavo — complete with his unmistakeably parted silver hair and an “End the Rain Tax” mask — among a crowd filled with Trump hats and flags inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. In one image, Scavo is holding his cellphone aloft to take a photo.

The Times Leader does not have license to republish those photos, which can easily be found on the internet. A close review of the images by a reporter and two editors, all of whom are familiar with Scavo, convinced this newspaper that Scavo is indeed seen in the Capitol in those images.

But Scavo said Friday, two days after a violent mob invaded the building, that he was not inside the Capitol at the time.

“We stayed about 15-20 minutes and I took some photos. We received a text from the D.C. mayor that a curfew would begin at 6 p.m. We decided to round up our people to return to the buses and leave,” Scavo told the Times Leader last week, referencing a group of about 200 local residents who had traveled to Washington for what he said was to be a peaceful protest against certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

“We didn’t see what was going on inside the Capitol,” Scavo said.

Scavo did not return phone messages on Wednesday, nor did he respond to an email to discuss the matter.

Dartoe explains actions

Another Northeastern Pennsylvania resident who was in Washington that day spoke to the Times Leader on Wednesday to explain his actions.

Martin Dartoe, of Wilkes-Barre, said he climbed a wall outside the Capitol primarily to get away from the crowd and obtain a better view of what was happening.

He said he did not scale the building or enter the interior.

“I wasn’t there for destruction. I would not disappoint Luzerne County taxpayers by doing that,” said Dartoe, who plans to run for county council.

Dartoe said he was not personally aware of anyone from the local group entering the Capitol. Local attendees were on several buses, he said.

Some of his Facebook postings from the day the event unfolded have been shared on social media, including one in which he wrote: “It will be a lot of bloodshed today. We the people are standing against good and evil.”

Dartoe said Wednesday night he was stating that as an observation and did not mean he was personally participating in or advocating violence.

“If you put an angry group of people together, what are you going to expect to happen?” he said, maintaining again that he was attending as an observer and peaceful protestor.

The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals involved in rioting and violence in and around the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.