Mayor Muriel Bowser
Mayor Muriel Bowser Credit: Darrow Montgomery

Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., whose self-given spy name is “DoubleODipshit,” wasn’t even at the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, but his itchy thumbs and guns have landed him in some trouble.

The QAnon believer, who owned a carwash in the Atlanta metro area called Car Nutz Car Wash, is facing federal charges for making threats to kill Mayor Muriel Bowser and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. He’s also charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammo in D.C., according to court records.

Meredith drove his pick-up from Colorado, intending to arrive in D.C. on Jan. 5, in time for the gathering orchestrated by President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, he told police. Meredith came to town towing a trailer and armed with an assault-style rifle, a Glock pistol painted like an American flag, high capacity magazines, more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition, including 320 armor piercing rounds, marijuana edibles, and a vial of testosterone, court records show.

Police recovered a Tavor X95 rifle and a Glock 9 mm G19 from Meredith’s trailer.
Police found about 2,500 rounds of ammunition, including 320 armor piercing rounds.

But he was delayed along the way and arrived too late on Jan. 6 to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally that devolved into a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.

“I’m trying but currently stuck in Cambridge, OH with trailer lights being fixed, crappers,” Meredith texted an acquaintance on Jan. 6. He later texted a photo of his pick-up truck and trailer, and wrote: “Just fixed … headed to DC with a shit ton of 5.56 armor piercing ammo [purple devil emoji],” according to police.

Police received a tip about threats Meredith sent in text messages in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and contacted him on Jan. 7 at the Holiday Inn in Southwest D.C. where he was staying. Meredith allowed agents to search his hotel room, trailer, and scroll through his phone, court records show. He admitted that he had two firearms in his truck despite knowing that “he was not supposed to have the firearms while in Washington, DC,” police say in court records.

Meredith’s threats against Bowser came in text messages on Jan. 7, the day after the insurrection. He decided to stay in D.C. to “FK with these commies,” according to a text he sent Jan. 7.

That same day, Meredith texted, “I may wander over to the Mayor’s office and put a 5.56 in her skull.” He was apparently suspicious that the FBI may be reading his messages and also texted, “I hope you’re reading this Mr. FBI agent, FK U.”

Also on Jan. 7, he texted that he was considering attending Pelosi’s speech and “putting a putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV. He punctuated the text with the purple devil emoji.

His recipient responded: “That comment you made about Pelosi, what the fuck are you thinking. Get real nephew.”

Meredith replied: “Psychological warfare. I’ve been on the radar for a while now, they now [sic] I’m harmless.”

Meredith sent a text asking how much the recipient would give him to “go trench the Capital [sic] lawn with ma big truk?” (The recipient replied and told him not to do it.) And he texted a photo of himself in a black face covering and said he planned to walk around D.C. yelling “Allahu ak Bar.” His recipient replied, “Cleve, be careful! I’m worried about you.” And Meredith responded, “Lol, jus havin fun. My Spy name is: DoubleODipshit.”

“That’s funny,” the recipient wrote back.

“Locked in my hotel room … high [smiley face with hearts emoji],” Meredith texted back, according to court records.

An arrest warrant application filed in D.C. Superior Court also accuses Meredith of assaulting a pedestrian Jan. 7. The affidavit in Superior Court alleges Meredith “exited his vehicle, head-butted [someone], knocked him to the ground, and assaulted him on the ground,” before driving off.

In 2018, Meredith paid for a billboard near the carwash he used to own to say “#QANON,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He reportedly sold the business in 2019.

Meredith was also banned in 2019 from the private school he attended in Atlanta in the 1980s after threatening a guest speaker, according to news reports.

Federal prosecutors call Meredith “a clearly disturbed, deranged, and dangerous individual” in their request to a judge to keep him in jail while he waits for a trial.

During a press conference Wednesday morning, MPD Chief Robert Contee said police are aware of the threats, but declined to discuss specifics about Bowser’s security detail.

“I will say, I get threats a lot,” Bowser said Wednesday. “I don’t know the number off the top of my head, and if MPD thinks that it’s actionable then they will implement whatever measures are necessary.”