Kevin and Carol Moore, of Massapequa, charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct in Capitol breach

Federal authorities arrested a Massapequa couple who allegedly entered the U.S. Capitol for several minutes during the Jan. 6 riot, charging them with misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Kevin Moore, 61, and Carol Moore, 57, were arrested by the FBI on Wednesday afternoon.

The couple appeared for arraignment in Central Islip federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay, who released them on their own recognizance.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., is prosecuting the case against Kevin Moore, a 25-year MTA employee, and Carol Moore.

According to a statement of facts prepared by an FBI agent, the Moores entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door at 3:12 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. Surveillance video showed the couple using a cellphone to photograph themselves, other alleged rioters and riot-gear-clad police officers as alarms blared in the background, the agent said.

The couple stood near the Senate Wing door for several minutes. Kevin Moore “aggressively yelled and gestured at a law-enforcement officer” at 3:19, and then left the Capitol, the FBI agent’s statement said. Carol Moore left the Capitol at about 3:20.

“Kevin and Carol Moore are peace-loving, patriotic Americans who gave voice to their genuine concerns about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election,” the defendants' attorney, John Carman, of Garden City, said in a statement to Newsday. “Kevin, a 9/11 first responder, and his wife were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, lawfully showing their support and giving aid to others who had been sprayed with mace.”

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Kevin Moore is a structure maintainer at NYC Transit and has been employed at the agency for 25 years. He was on an approved leave when he traveled to Washington in 2021. He has been on requested leave since April.

Photos included in the agent’s statement show Carol Moore wearing a sweatshirt that said, “Landscape Impressions,” the name of a company owned by the couple’s close relatives. She wore a similar sweatshirt in Central Islip court on Thursday.

The agent’s statement said the protesters attempted to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election results. It is a crime, it added, to enter a restricted building or grounds, or to engage in behavior that disrupts the orderly conduct of government business. The Capitol was closed to the public on Jan. 6, 2021.

A tipster notified the FBI in October 2021 that the Moores had shared via text a photo of themselves inside the Capitol and another showing them waving a Trump flag over the Capitol steps. The tipster refused to provide additional information in order to maintain their anonymity. But the FBI, according to the agent, was able to identify Kevin and Carol Moore through driver’s license photographs.

On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, the couple watched then-President Donald Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, then walked to the Capitol and entered the building, the statement said. The agent interviewed “a person who has had regular interactions with C. Moore and K. Moore.” That person identified both defendants based on photographs.

The source told the FBI agent, according to the statement, that they had spoken to Kevin Moore before Jan. 6.

“Something big is happening,” Kevin Moore told the source.