Where was Gregory Yetman last seen? FBI search for Jan 6 Capitol riot suspect rages in Helmetta

A January 6, 2021, Capitol riot suspect named Gregory Yetman is currently on the loose, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking for him all across his hometown in Helmetta, New Jersey, where he was last seen.

Gregory Yetman was last seen wearing a red jacket and a baseball hat, according to NBC, near his residence on Main Street, Helmetta, located about a half-hour northeast of the state capital Trenton, reported CBS News.

As a result, the FBI initiated their search from the same area and expanded it all across Middlesex County. The manhunt, as per CBS News, began around 9 am on Wednesday and is still ongoing.

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Gregory Yetman is a former member of the New Jersey National Guard

On January 6, 2021, after former President Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, many of his supporters stormed into the Capitol building and tried to take it over. One of them was a former member of the New Jersey National Guard (who served until March 2022 for 12 years, as per CBS News) named Gregory Yetman, who is currently missing and, on the FBI’s, “most wanted list.”

As per the New York Post, Gregory Yetman was caught on the security camera of the Capitol building, picking up a giant canister of pepper spray, which landed near him during the riot on January 6, 2021, and pointing it toward the Capitol police.

Earlier this year, Gregory Yetman, who was a military police sergeant in the NJ National Guard during the riot, told USA Today that even though he was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he did not commit any crimes.

“Everything’s been resolved, everything’s good,” he noted.

He even said the same thing to the FBI, right after the riot, as per the news outlet. However, recently, the FBI was able to identify him from the USA Today article as well as the security footage and issued an arrest warrant against him on Wednesday.

Gregory Yetman, who is in his late 40s, may have got the heat of it and escaped on foot into the woods from Helmetta before the Feds could take him into custody, reported the Daily Beast. The FBI is looking for him on the charge of assaulting a federal officer, as per USA Today.

The manhunt which began around 9 am on November 8 is still ongoing, and as per internet sleuth Collin Rugg’s tweet, the FBI is allegedly using tanks for the search, from Helmetta to Middlesex County. Local and county law enforcement are helping the Feds as well, as per the New York Post.

The FBI also closed down streets across Helmetta and asked schools and offices to shelter in place, as per NBC. However, residents were not instructed to stay on lockdown.

The news outlet also reported that Tactical teams conducted a thorough search in people’s homes, backyards, sheds, and cars across Helmetta on Wednesday, and even used flashbang grenades and choppers.

On Wednesday, Helmetta Mayor Chris Slavicek told reporters that such a high-profile law enforcement activity was “not the normal” in the township and was “absolutely unsettling.”

As per NBC, the mayor said that Gregory Yetman was “no stranger to this community” and believed that he was not “out to harm any of the residents.”

“A situation like this of course brings heightened anxiety in the community…You never think something like this will happen in your own backyard,” Slavicek told USA Today.

In early 2022, after the USA Today article, netizens gave Yetman the nickname of #GreenHeavySprayer which even trended on social media platforms back then. Meanwhile, the FBI has issued a statement urging people to immediately call their Newark office if anybody had any information on Yetman.

Gregory hadn’t been responding to calls or text messages sent to him throughout Wednesday, as per USA Today.