THE
Daily Egyptian Serving the Southern Illinois University community since 1916.
dailyegyptian.com February 3, 2021 Vol. 104, Issue 3
Who is Mathew Capsel? A look at Illinois resident charged for involvement in Jan 6. Insurrection
Danny Connolly | @DConnollyTV
It had thriving businesses and a youth center, it was really a game changer for the north east side in a most positive way,” director of the Eurma Hayes board, Bob Wills said. The center was closed in March of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it remains closed. “When a building is sitting idle for that long you get a lot of issues, so we’ve been cleaning and painting and tearing up carpeting and trying to get the center back so the community will have full use of it,” Wills said. Wills became director of the Eurma Hayes board in August 2020 and he has been working on renovations to improve the Center. In October of 2020 Will asked the City to be a part of the Center’s renovations and he offered a work space to the Carbondale Police Department. “I requested them to come and I think it serves as a real way of saying let’s try to fix this and not just leave it as
Mathew Capsel, from Marselies, IL was arrested on Jan. 27 multiple charges for endangering police, unlawfully entering a restricted building and resisting law enforcement. He posted on TikTok that he was pepper sprayed after charging at the national guard’s riot shields, and multiple social media followers reported it to the FBI. Capsel was released on bond Jan. 29. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, he is under house arrest and can only travel to northern Illinois and Washington DC, to appear in court where he faces federal charges. While in court, Capsel claimed “ I got banned on Facebook for life.” The Daily Egyptian was able to access this Facebook account up until the evening of Jan. 28, a day before he testified in court. While his most recent account was banned, the DE was able to find three of his past Facebook accounts. All are still active as of publication. One of these accounts, last publicly updated in May 2018, had dozens of pro-Trump, white nationalist and neo-confederacy posts, along with sharing several conspiracy theories including flat earth theories, chemtrails and the “murder” of Seth Rich and that Post Malone is not an actual person. Capsel also believed that the 2018 Illinois primary election was rigged. ”Fuck Illinois election vote Dr Pepper,” Capsel posted with a picture of a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper. “I don’t even wast (sic) my time with Illinois election. Talk abt demacradicly (sic) rigged” he explained in a comment. Capsel also posted a 2018 letter from President Donald Trump on his Facebook page, thanking him for the “invaluable contributions to the advancement of our great nation.” Additionally, the DE found a Twitter page and a different TikTok account Mathew Capsel used as of June 2020. On both accounts he posted multiple tweets and videos promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory. The tik tok account he used on the Jan. 6 insurrection was “banned due to multiple Community Guidelines violations.”.
Please see EURMA HAYES | 3
Please see CAPSEL | 2
Volunteer Janet Lilly, 75, sits for a portrait Tuesday, February 2 at the Eurma Hayes Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Lilly said the substation will be a good addition to the Eurma Hayes Center. “People like to feel secure and when you feel secure you’ll come. When you feel insecure by whatever it is causing that fear you’re not going to come in fear of but I feel the substation will provide some sort of security,” she said. Madison Taylor | the.madisontaylor
Mixed response to new police station in Eurma Hayes Center
Janae Mosby | @mosbyj
The Eurma Hayes center has been in the Carbondale community since the 1970s and there has recently been some controversy surrounding the announcement that a police substation will be housed there. Carbondale Police Department’s Interim Chief, Stan Reno, announced they were provided a small space in the Center “so both sworn and civilian department employees could further enhance services to Carbondale community members.” Some people of the community do not support the inclusion of the substation inside of the Center. “I think it would defeat the purpose of a community center where people will feel comfortable coming there,” leader of the Southern Illinois Unity Coalition Nancy Maxwell said. Maxwell said if they have a community center where kids can go and there are programs for the community that will take down some of the violence. Carbondale Spring has started
a petition to the Carbondale City council, the Jackson County State’s Attorney and the Carbondale Police Department. “There are some groups that are writing a letter and they have a petition circulating letting their concerns be known about [how] they don’t believe a substation will help the community and it may be more of a hindrance,” Maxwell said. As of Monday evening, 942 people signed this petition. “While it is true that the city of Carbondale has a problem with violent crime and shootings, we also know true violence prevention does not come from increased policing and interaction with the criminal justice system,” the Carbondale Spring petition said. The Center has been an important part of the Carbondale community, it provided resources for the community like a business center and a youth center. “It has had a tremendous positive impact on the community, when it was implemented it did so much for people.