COVINGTON, Ga. — The FBI raided a Newton County-area farm last week and seized electronics associated with the leader of a far-right militia, according to area media sources.
It was part of the widening investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the residents said.
The FBI "carried out court-authorized law enforcement activity" at the Oxford-area farm where Donnie and Annemarie Hyatt live north of Covington, spokesman Kevin Rowson told The Covington News.
He said the agency had no other comment on the incident.
The agency reportedly seized cell phones, computers and other electronics from the home of the couple — which is inside Walton County about one mile north of the Newton County line — Tuesday, Aug. 10.
They are associated with Stockbridge resident Chris Hill, the leader of a far-right militia called the III% Security Force, the AJC reported.
Donnie Hyatt told the AJC 40 federal agents in four armored vehicles converged at 7 a.m. Aug. 10 morning to serve a warrant to search the property.
He said the agents had a warrant, but it was for a sealed investigation and had few details, the AJC reported.
The Hyatts were among the thousands who attended former President Donald Trump's rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. They were not among those who breached the Capitol, Donnie Hyatt told the AJC.
The Covington News is working to find out more details about the incident.
Hill helped place Newton County in the national spotlight in September 2016 when he led the III% Security Force on the Covington Square in an armed protest of the possible construction of a Muslim mosque and cemetery in south Newton County.
He also released a video at the time in which he admitted publicly he said some "crass" things about mosque planners, though he denied it was meant to intimidate.
Hill reportedly also was among those attending a protest in August 2020 that turned violent in the city of Stone Mountain amid calls for removal of the Confederate memorial carving in Stone Mountain Park.
An earlier version of this report should have stated the location was Walton County.
