Former Miami Young Republicans director arrested over Jan. 6 charges

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A South Florida woman with connection to the state Republican Party and GOP officials was arrested by federal authorities last week for allegedly joining the crowd of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Barbara "Barby" Balmaseda, a 23-year-old from Miami Lakes who, according to Miami New Times, interned for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), is facing five charges — one felony and four misdemeanors — tied to the riot, according to newly unsealed court documents. Once a campaign organizer for Gov. Ron DeSantis, Balmaseda is accused of breaching the Crypt inside the Capitol alongside a member of the Proud Boys who last month was found guilty of two felony charges over the 2021 attempt to disrupt Congress.

“Open source and CCTV footage from the Crypt shows that the mob eventually overran the police line in the Crypt, and Balmaseda moved forward with the crowd,” an unnamed FBI agent wrote in a complaint outlining the case against her.

Balmaseda was an active GOP member in South Florida, at one point serving as the director-at-large of the Miami Young Republicans, leading up to Jan. 6. She also acted as a committeewoman for the Party, but resigned from a leadership role soon after photos emerged of her at the Capitol during the riot.

Balmaseda was arrested in Miami Lakes on Dec. 14 by a task force made up of “FBI, Marshals, ATF and Metro-Dade Police,” according to her attorney Aubrey Webb, who said the move was a “waste of law enforcement resources” for what amounts to “essentially trespassing charges.”

She is accused of attempting to obstruct congressional proceedings, knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, and engaging in disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, records show.

Webb said Balmaseda is “relieved this process will finally move toward a final resolution” while noting she is not charged with violence or destruction of property.

“Maybe if the FBI spent less time and resources focusing on J6 trespassers with no criminal history, they might be able to make an arrest of the suspect who left pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC offices on Capitol Hill on January 5, 2021, who currently remains at large,” Webb said in a statement. “We hope, of course, they will rein in the DOJ's politically-motivated prosecution of January 6 demonstrators.”

Officials with Rubio’s office did not respond to a request for comment; officials with the DeSantis administration declined to comment.

Balmaseda was ensnared in the federal Jan. 6 investigation through messages linking her to Gabriel Garcia, a former member of the Proud Boys who once sat on the Miami-Dade Republican Party Executive Committee, records show. Balmaseda and Garcia were together at the Capital on January 6 that day, according to several pieces of evidence compiled by investigators.

At one point during the riot, Garcia recorded video displaying the “chaos” in the Crypt, showing himself on camera saying “We just went ahead and stormed the Capitol” near Balmaseda. Outside the Capitol, Balmaseda and Garcia took a selfie that was eventually used as evidence.

Two days after the breach, Balmaseda sent a text message to Garcia saying that she had his sunglasses in her purse and that he still had her taser.

Garcia, who is also from Miami, in November was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding and interference with law enforcement during a civil disorder — both felonies.