Scavo in federal court to face charges from Jan. 6 Capitol riot

WILKES-BARRE — The man who organized 200 local residents to journey to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, to take part in what they hoped would be a peaceful protest against the election certification in Congress, will be charged this morning in federal court.

Frank Scavo, 58, a former Old Forge School Board member, will appear in federal court in Scranton for a 10 a.m. hearing where, according to his attorney Ernie Preate Jr., Scavo will be charged with four misdemeanors stemming from the insurrection at the Capitol Building.

“We have been verbally notified that Mr. Scavo will be charged with four misdemeanors — no felonies,” Preate said. “He will be charged with unlawful entry and disorderly conduct and two other counts. We have not received one document from the government — not one affidavit — just verbal notification to appear.”

Preate said he does not know if Scavo will be detained, or released pending trial.

“Th’s will be an interesting case,” Preate said. “We have to see what the government is going to say. Mr. Scavo is entitled to a fair shake. People shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.”

Preate said Scavo will plead not guilty.

Scavo did not return a voice message left on his cell phone.

About 200 local residents journeyed to Washington, D.C., to take part in what they had hoped would be a peaceful protest of the presidential election certification in Congress.

Scavo said he helped organize the trip that had four buses filled with supporters of President Donald Trump who want to see the presidential election overturned.

In an interview with the Times Leader a few days after the rioting, Scavo 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 unmistakably 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.

But Scavo said 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.

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

Scavo said the group is not looking for confrontation, but he added that he expected the protesters would be harassed, and he was hopeful that there would be protection provided.

“This is America,” he said. “Why can’t we take a bus ride down to our nation’s capital to witness history and be a part of this without incident.”