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The woman accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop gets a house arrest break for Pa. Ren Faire

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

Here ye! Here ye!

When Riley Williams, who isaccused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Jan. 6 insurrection, was released from jail last year, the judge ordered she'd 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-and-fantasy-themed weekend at the fair for eight hours this weekend, her lawyer Lori Ulrich told thePittsburgh-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.

It seems 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 cos play, making preparations for a make-believe renaissance wedding, or enjoying a good ole 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 she boasted about on her own social media platform. According to an FBI investigation, Williams allegedly planned on selling the laptop to Russian operatives.

"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.
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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.