A member of the Proud Boys brazenly decided to menace an FBI agent investigating him for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. That same FBI agent then executed the warrant that led to his arrest.

On Thursday, FBI Special Agent Ryan Nougaret detailed in an affidavit how Proud Boys member Barry Bennett Ramey, a Florida native, appeared to threaten him by sending a text containing the agent's home address and the agent's former vehicle identification number.

Nougaret, who works for the FBI Miami Division, was responsible for investigating Ramey for taking part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol last year. Included in the affidavit were images of Ramey taken from social media that showed him at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and spraying a Capitol Police officer in the face with an orange liquid.

Ramey was identified on a master list of Proud Boys members in southern Florida by “confidential human sources” of the FBI. The affidavit says that Ramey was also connected to a hotel reservation in Arlington, Virginia about seven miles from the Capitol.

On Feb. 11, Nougaret said he left his FBI business card that included a cell phone number with an individual identified as a "close associate" of Ramey to attempt an interview for the case. Two months later on April 8, the agent then received a mysterious phone call from an individual he believed to be Ramey.

“Is this Mr. Nougaret?" asked the caller before listing off the agent's home address.

Nougaret then received a text message with a number. Questioned what the message’s purpose was, the sender responded “Check that VIN” with a smiley emoji.

True to his training, Nougaret ran the number of the sender and connected it to a company that provides Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that are considered unattributable to a specific individual. Nougaret concluded that the sender was Ramey.

Ramey’s brazen attempt to seemingly bully an FBI agent backfired. NBC News reported that Nougaret executed Ramey's arrest warrant Thursday morning in Plantation, Florida, citing court records.

The Proud Boys are a right-wing group that identifies themselves as "Western Chauvinists" and are known for their support for former President Donald Trump. A number of Proud Boys were arrested for their involvement with the Capitol Riot, including former chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was indicted on charges of planning violence on Jan. 6.

To date, the FBI has arrested over 800 individuals across the United States for their actions at the Capitol. Members of other far-right groups like the Oath Keepers have been among those arrested and charged.

RELATED STORIES