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The woman accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop gets to attend Renaissance Faire

Riley June Williams, accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has been granted permission to attend the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.
Dauphin County Prison via AP
Riley June Williams, accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has been granted permission to attend the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

When Riley Williams, who is accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Jan. 6 insurrection, was released from jail last year, the judge ordered that Williams would only be able to leave home for work, court proceedings, and a handful of approved outings.

Now it appears the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire is one of those exceptions.

The 25-year-old has been granted permission to attend the Fairies & Fantasy themed fair for eight hours over the weekend, her lawyer Lori Ulrich told the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.

"She is confined to her home 24/7 with exceptions. Every once in a while, if there is an activity that interests her, we ask if she can attend," Ulrich said.

This is not the first time the Mechanicsburg, Pa., resident has been allowed a reprieve from house arrest, Ulrich said. She noted that prosecutors are generally amenable to letting Williams go on day-long adventures.

This weekend, that might mean potentially partaking in some corseted cosplay, making preparations for a make-believe renaissance wedding, or enjoying a good ol' fashioned jousting competition. All of which sound like a nice break from the serious charges Williams faces.

Prosecutors say Williams stole Pelosi's computer from the speaker's office, which they say Williams boasted about on her own social media platform. The FBI was investigating whether Williams allegedly planned on selling the laptop to Russia's foreign intelligence agency.

"I took Nancy Polesis [sic] hard drives. I don't care. Kill me," authorities say she wrote on the social media site Discord.

At least 895 people across the country have been arrested in connection with the insurrection at the Capitol.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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