UCLA Student Charged In Capitol Riot Took Inspiration From Online Extremist

On Twitter, classmate Christian Secor attacked women and minorities, they said, and embraced the ideology of a far-right extremist. On campus, he pushed a student Republicans group toward extreme positions against all immigration. And on the video streaming site DLive, Secor took on the handle "Scuffed Elliot Rodger" — an apparent reference to the misogynist gunman who killed six people in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014.

Students of color and Jewish students said they felt targeted by Secor's rhetoric, and given his self-proclaimed "love" of guns, they worried about their own safety. Multiple students told NPR they took their concerns to the UCLA administration but said the school took no action.

So when they recognized their 22-year-old classmate in footage from the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, they weren't exactly surprised.

"I was a little shocked," said Grayson Peters, a Jewish UCLA student, though "not because I thought it would be out of character."