TikTok influencer who stormed the Capitol during January 6 insurrection is placed on US TERROR list after being hunted by the FBI and fleeing the country

A TikTok influencer who took part in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol has been placed on a US terror list, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

It is the first case of terror charges allegedly being leveled against those involved in the violent protest – a step beyond the convictions for 'seditious conspiracy' for some participants.

The accused,  a man in his mid-20s who provided information on the condition of anonymity, fled the US in October after FBI agents started contacting his friends and family.

After spending three months in a Swiss refugee camp, he ended up in Costa Rica, where immigration officials kept him in solitary confinement for eight days and gave him documents saying he was 'wanted for terrorist acts' in the US.

He was released last month and is now in a third, unknown country.

DailyMail.com can reveal a TikTok influencer - not in the pictured above - who took part in the January 6 , 2021 riot at the Capitol has been placed on a US terror list

The alleged 'terrorist' is a man in his mid-20s man who provided information on the condition of anonymity and will only be identified as Mike

Mike got a text from his mother on May 6, saying: 'The FBI came to my house and questioned me about you yesterday,' followed by a sad face emoji

Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin said that the documents suggest the young man has been placed on a domestic terror list under Section 266 of the Comprehensive Counter-Terrorism Act, giving authorities broad powers to surveil him.

However, no public charges have been filed against him in the US.

The man, who DailyMail.com is naming only as 'Mike', says he did not take part in any violence and does not believe he committed any crimes on January 6 – claiming that he can prove it with a video of the entire day shot on a GoPro camera he wore.

Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin said that the documents suggest the young man has been placed on a domestic terror list under Section 266 of the Comprehensive Counter-Terrorism Act, giving authorities broad powers to surveil him

He lived on the US East Coast, is a former Eagle Scout, and does not have a criminal record.

Mike is a social media entrepreneur, with over 350,000 followers on TikTok. His videos have 35 million total views and over 6 million likes.

But as far as the US authorities are concerned, he may now be considered a terrorist – marking a potential escalation in the legal treatment of January 6 participants.

FBI director Christopher Wray condemned the Capitol riot as 'domestic terrorism' in a Congressional hearing two months after the event.

But prosecutors have so far refrained from using domestic terror charges against any participants.

Statistics from the Department of Justice released three years after the event say 1,265 defendants have since been charged, and 889 convicted.

Among these are 57 charged with conspiracy, including 'conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding'.

Participants in the riot were accused of violent attempts to prevent Congress from formalizing Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory.

These included members of far right militia groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

Mike says he was not part of any militia groups, and attended the January 6 Washington, DC protest with his family.

He says he didn't take part in any violence and emerged unscathed from the event. But in the months following, he became increasingly nervous as he read stories of hundreds of others facing federal charges over the riot.

His picture – without his name – even appeared on the website SeditionHunters.org, run by a group of civilian researchers who have used social media to identify 901 January 6 participants, many of whom have since been charged.

Mike first became aware of the FBI's active interest in him after he moved to another state where his cousin lives in 2022.

After arriving at Juan Santamaría International Airport in Costa Rica, Mike told immigration officials he was seeking asylum. He said he was taken to a room with a bunk bed and 24/7 security (pictured) and was kept there alone until February 3

While detained at Juan Santamaria International Airport, Mike was interviewed and told by Costa Rican officials that he had been flagged in a US system as a 'domestic terrorist', meaning he would be denied residency there

A write up of Mike's interview with Costa Rican immigration officials, originally obtained by right wing nonprofit Marco Polo, which revealed he was allegedly put on a terror list

On February 15 last year, agents visited his cousin's roommate, asking about Mike's whereabouts – though they did not say he had committed any crimes.

On May 4 they visited Mike's former landlord, again asking for his whereabouts. The landlord texted Mike about it the next day.

He also got a text from his Mother on May 6, saying: 'The FBI came to my house and questioned me about you yesterday,' followed by a sad face emoji.

Feeling hunted, the final straw came when he learned extra funding had been granted by the Biden administration for the Bureau's January 6 investigation.

Fearing he would end up in federal prison if he stayed, he resolved to take the drastic step of fleeing the country.

On October 10 he shut off all his electronic devices and used paper maps to drive from his residence to the Texan border with Mexico. Four days later he crossed the border on foot.

He flew from Mexico City to Zurich, Switzerland, lived in an apartment there for about six weeks, then applied for asylum and was sent to a refugee camp in Belerna for three weeks.

He said he gave Swiss immigration officials all his videos, photos and text messages showing his involvement in January 6, arguing that he would not get a fair trial if he was sent back to the US.

The Swiss authorities denied his application, but allowed him to instead buy a flight to Costa Rica on January 31, 2024.

After arriving at Juan Santamaría International Airport, he told immigration officials he was seeking asylum. He said he was taken to a room with a bunk bed and 24/7 security, and was kept there alone until February 3.

While detained, he was interviewed and told by Costa Rican officials that he had been flagged in a US system as a 'domestic terrorist', meaning he would be denied residency there.

DailyMail.com has obtained papers written in Spanish recording his interview with an immigration official, which contained the claim he was 'wanted for terrorist acts' in the US.

'Initially I asked you if you had committed any crime, and you indicated no, but Costa Rican immigration has confidential information that you are wanted for terrorist acts. Can you explain that to me please?' the Costa Rican official said, according to the Spanish-language document.

'The government labels people who disagree with its decisions as terrorists,' Mike responded.

A copy of Mike's ticket from Zurich, Switzerland to San Jose, Costa Rica on January 31

FBI director Christopher Wray condemned the Capitol riot as 'domestic terrorism' in a Congressional hearing two months after the event

In text messages with a friend shown to DailyMail.com, he said the immigration official told him he was 'labeled as either a potential domestic terrorist or as a domestic terrorist, but gave no reason as to why.'

He told the officials he was in Costa Rica seeking 'security and freedom', and feared that 'I will be arrested when I set foot on American soil.'

'I think they are looking for something to put me in jail because the FBI went looking for me,' Mike said, according to the immigration interview writeup.

Mike sent pictures of the documents to right wing nonprofit Marco Polo, which shared them with DailyMail.com.

Mike said that he chose Costa Rica because a conservative activist, Marc DeGiovanni, is currently residing there.

But after about a week his application was denied, and he has now settled in another, undisclosed country.

'I already spent almost two months in [a] hell hole just to be told no,' Mike wrote in a text. 'They told me the same thing… that there's no way in hell I'm gonna be able to stay.

'I would rather hop from country to country and take my chances than be trapped as a voluntary prisoner with no hope for bail or parole.'

His mother, who accompanied him to the January 6 Trump rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol, said she is in regular contact with Mike, and that he is getting back on his feet.

'He's doing good. He's getting his peace of mind back,' she told DailyMail.com.

'I went down there to show my support for Trump and to show that this should not happen. An entire election was stolen, there's no question in my mind,' she said.

'However, my family members and relatives of myself, my husband and my son, believe the opposite.'

This is the first case of terror charges allegedly being leveled against those involved in the violent protest

Mike's parents spoke to DailyMail.com on the condition of anonymity.

His father said he is 'not surprised' that the government has put his son on a terror list, according to Costa Rican officials.

'They're calling all of them domestic terrorists. It's because they know how the public responds, it's a trigger word.

'We thought our government wasn't crooked, our judicial system and our media, wasn't crooked,' he said. 'But the people in charge are corrupt.'

He said that while he was hopeful Mike could return under a Trump administration in 2025, his participation in January 6 could have lifelong consequences.

'I believe Trump will win in November and when he is sworn in, in January of next year, our son will be free to come home.

'But I'm not the one with the threat of prison hanging over my head. So I gotta go with his feelings,' he said. 'It's been very stressful for all involved.

'People will google his name to try to get some background information on him, and the first thing that pops up is that he's a terrorist.

His mother added: 'If his name is cleared in 11 months it doesn't matter because the story's already read, it's already out there.'

She said Mike was also afraid that law enforcement could pursue her – though she was happy to fight her case.

'He said to me, 'Mom, they could come and scoop you up,' because I'm here in the States, and I was there on January 6. But I say, at my age, if they want to take me, do it,' she said.

'Assuming Trump is legitimately voted in next time, he said he'd pardon all J6ers that were nonviolent.'

Former FBI agent Seraphin, who has become a vocal activist for January 6 accussees, said that the lack of charges and the secrecy around terror lists makes Mike's case hard to scrutinize.

'How do you fix a list you can't even prove you are on?' he said.

'No one from J6 has been charged with a terrorism charge. They have threatened some with 'terrorism enhancements'.'

But he added that he believes all the FBI's January 6 suspects have been put on a terror watch list under 'Section 266', a law pertaining to domestic terrorists.

'They all have parallel 266 cases, which are domestic terrorism. But if they don't have criminal charges, there's no 'terrorism' involved,' he said.

'[Mike] would be better with a criminal complaint or statement of facts from the FBI coming for them. Then you could see there is nothing more than some bulls**t trespassing charge.'