The defendants charged in the Capitol insurrection have something in common: a history of financial woes

<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5fd400f1e00bce00188bb024-2119/GettyImages-1141219726.jpg" border="0" alt="money" data-mce-source="boonchai wedmakawand/Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>The <a href="https://www.insider.com/all-the-us-capitol-pro-trump-riot-arrests-charges-names-2021-1">more than 240 defendants</a> charged in the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol siege came to Washington, D.C. from around the United States and from all walks of life, but something in common: a history of financial difficulties.&nbsp;</p><p>A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/10/capitol-insurrectionists-jenna-ryan-financial-problems/">new Washington Post analysis of court records and financial documents</a> found that out of 125 defendants who had publicly available financial information, nearly 60% had filed for bankruptcy, had unpaid tax bills and other debts, been sued for unpaid debts, or faced losing their homes through eviction or foreclosure.&nbsp;</p><p>The Post also found that among that group, the bankruptcy rate was 18%, almost double the national average.&nbsp;</p><p><em><strong>Read more:&nbsp;</strong></em><em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-congress-trump-impeachment-ban-2024-president-2021-1" data-analytics-position="45" data-analytics-module="">How Trump's Senate trial could end with a vote to ban him from ever holding federal office again and kill any chances of a 2024 run</a></em></p><p>Among them were some of the most infamous accused rioters who have become faces of the insurrection. Jenna Ryan, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jenna-ryan-private-jet-us-capitol-arrested-2021-1">Texas real estate agent charged with two misdemeanors in connection with Capitol insurrection</a> who flew to Washington, D.C. on a private jet, had filed for bankruptcy in 2012, almost lost her home before then, and had a history of unpaid federal taxes.</p><p>Ryan, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-bans-jenna-ryan-capitol-riot-private-jet-texas-realtor-2021-1">who was also banned from PayPal after trying to raise funds for her legal defense on the platform</a>, told the Post that she now fully regrets her participation in the riots and says she "bought into a lie."&nbsp;</p><p>Riley June Williams, the 22-year-old Pennsylvania woman <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/riley-june-williams-lawyer-blames-trump-capitol-riot-2021-1">accused of being involved in the theft of a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office</a>, had herself filed for bankruptcy when she was just a child, according to the Post.&nbsp;</p><p>And Ashli Babbit, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ashli-babbitt-tweeted-qanon-and-trump-conspiracies-before-capitol-death-2021-1">who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the insurrection</a>, had been hit with a $23,000 judgment from a lender a few years prior.&nbsp;</p><p>Research shows that low-income people with lower levels of education are<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/summer_fall_radicalism_taspinar.pdf">&nbsp;not necessarily more likely to fall into extremist movements</a>but being saddled with debt or other struggles can make some feel as if they have nothing left to lose.&nbsp;</p><p>The Capitol insurrection further displays how outwardly successful and educated people in society's mainstream can fall into anti-government movements.&nbsp;</p><p>Those arrested so far include people associated with extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, but also people who had never before been charged with a federal crime or had a connection to those movements.</p><p>The rise of domestic right-wing extremism and the QAnon conspiracy theory <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/02/04/dont-blame-a-lack-of-education--qanon-proves-privileged-white-people-are-losing-their-minds-too/">haven't just targeted low-income or uneducated people, however</a>, but have swept up many well-off, college-educated professionals, too.&nbsp;</p><p>One <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/10/capitol-insurrectionists-jenna-ryan-financial-problems/">researcher interviewed by the Post</a> said that middle-class and educated people may be more likely to be lured into extremism when they feel their position in society being jeopardized or threatened.&nbsp;</p><p>Ryan, for example, told the Post that while she had voted for Trump in 2016, she didn't become politically engaged until 2020, when she started consuming right-wing media like the Gateway Pundit, Infowars, and Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast, and fell down the rabbit hole of the QAnon conspiracy.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-riot-defendants-shared-history-of-financial-probelms-wapo-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-travel-during-coronavirus-outbreak-planes-airports-virus-2020-3">Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak</a></p>
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