Former FIT Student Who Allegedly Stormed Capital Awaits His Fate

CHELSEA, NY — Two days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, public safety officers at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Chelsea alerted the FBI that several faculty and students had reviewed pictures and videos on social media of classmate Nicolas Anthony Moncada participating in the riot, authorities say.

The faculty and fellow students were "certain" that the images Moncada reportedly posted to his own social media accounts depicted the Staten Island native, who was studying illustration at FIT, participating in the riot within the Capitol building, investigators wrote.

The FBI went on to execute search warrants on both the Facebook and Twitter accounts believed to be owned by Moncada, which supported the screenshots submitted to authorities by campus safety at FIT.

On the same day, the FBI also observed Moncada's Instagram accounts, which contained photos depicting Moncada within the Capitol building outside of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, according to authorities.

Ten days after the FBI was notified of Moncada's social media posting from the day of the riot, he was arrested at his home in Staten Island.

Moncada had his initial court appearance at the beginning of February 2020, in which he was eventually released on recognizance without bail, according to court documents.

A release on your own recognizance is a written promise signed by the defendant promising that they will show up for future court appearances and not engage in illegal activity while out.

He has had subsequent preliminary hearings continuously pushed back — most recently on Dec. 3, 2021 "because the parties are in the process of discussing a non-trial disposition," according to a court document.

This gives them another 90-days to work on the case without having to appear in court, according to the most recent document in the Moncada case.

"Our original position, that he (Moncada) was just a photographic journalist, he caused no damage, he did not trespass, he followed a crowd, he followed police direction which we have on video, and maintains his innocence," the Gallucci Law Firm, which is representing Moncada, told Patch in a phone call.

The Gallucci Law firm also told Patch that they were waiting on "discovery," which is the formal process of exchanging information between the parties about the witnesses and evidence that will be presented during the trial.

A phone number listed for Moncada did not return a call or text from Patch.

"Storming The Capitol Building"

When a social media user commented "what is going on?" to a video Moncada posted to his Instagram on Jan. 6 showing the inside of the Capitol building, Moncada responded — "Storming the Capitol Building," according to the FBI.

When another person commented asking where the video was taking place, Moncada responded: "Capitol Building where Senate & House are conducting Electoral Vote Count," according to the FBI.

The two Instagram accounts that Moncada used to post the selfies and first-person videos depicting the Capitol riot have been deleted, but his Twitter account "IdeologicalWay" is still active.

Authorities say that the "IdeologicalWay" Twitter account belongs to Moncada, and a photo of Moncada is set as the profile picture.

The bio of the Twitter account reads: "Indie Journalist Commentator Artist • Liberty Loving Liberal Libertarian • Mistaken for Antifa 4 times so far."

On Jan. 5, 2020, he tweeted — "I am on my way to DC tonight...Will any of y'all be there?"

On Jan. 7, the day after the riot — he sent out three tweets that called a picture of elected officials taking cover in the Capitol "pathetic," said he "loved" the message that "leftists are just mad that right-wingers actually went after the government itself instead of a small family-owned sports bar," and wrote the following: "Don't let those few Antifa steal the spotlight. And maybe we can shake hands with them and storm the Capitol again someday...".

Pathetic https://t.co/w9hbXXlfNU
— The Ideological Way 🗽#GetOnGab (@IdeologicalWay) January 7, 2021

I give 0 fucks about any potential Antifa mixing in with Trump Supporters at the storming of Capitol.

Don't let those few Antifa steal the spotlight. And maybe we can shake hands with them and storm the Capitol again some day...
— The Ideological Way 🗽#GetOnGab (@IdeologicalWay) January 8, 2021

The "IdeologicalWay" has been dormant since Jan. 16, 2021.

In terms of Moncada's enrollment at FIT, he had been a student there for at least two years prior to Jan. 6, 2021, according to the FBI.

However, a spokesperson from FIT told the New York Post that while Moncada had been a student at the school studying illustration, he hadn't been enrolled since May of 2020.

At the time of the Post's Jan. 21 article about Moncada, his mother told the publication that she was "upset that everyone’s jumping to conclusions. He’s such a good kid. I just don’t want to see his future ruined because he wanted to see what was going on.”

Patch was able to find an active Instagram account for Moncada that goes up until December 2021, which shows the Staten Island native sharing pictures of his drawings and practicing jiujitsu.