FBI raid in Clearwater lands Jan. 6 rioter in jail

CLEARWATER, Fla. - An FBI raid in Clearwater on Monday is connected with the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

FOX 13 has learned the man who was arrested at the Woodlake Condominiums, on Sunset Point Road, is 49-year-old Victor Sean Dennison, of California. An arrest warrant was issued for him after he failed to appear for trial in June 2023. 

He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Monday and is now facing several more charges – that's in addition to the one he's already facing for his role in the Jan. 6 riot. Those included violent entry and disorderly conduct on the capital grounds.

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Dennison made his first appearance in federal court on Tuesday where he claimed "sovereign citizenship." 

"A sovereign citizen is a person who feels our government, our laws don’t have jurisdiction over them," said Anthony Rickman, a Tampa Bay area defense attorney who is not affiliated with the case. "Really, they are a citizen of their own body in their minds."

Rickman explained that those claims are contradictory to his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when he is seen on surveillance footage inside the Capitol, entering the building for three minutes total. 

"It’s odd, because he’s a person who’s claiming that he’s his own entity, is in D.C. supporting the President of the United States, who’s in charge of the government," Rickman said.

He also said had Dennison showed up for his trial court date, he likely would have been sentenced to probation or a shorter sentence.

"He wasn’t accused of going in and beating up Capitol police officers, he wasn’t part of the violent uprising when people started breaching the Capitol," Rickman said. "He really falls on the low end. He’s really a minor type of offender. Traditionally, offenders like him would get probation. Maybe a shorter jail sentence."

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