Pennsylvania-based Barton Shively, who is facing multiple charges in federal court in Washington, DC, was arrested Tuesday.
The charges against him include complicity, civil disorder, violent assault, resistance, resistance, interference or interference with a federal official or employee, and violent entry into trespassing areas or any Capitol, according to a criminal complaint. He hasn’t submitted a plea yet.
Court documents unsealed on Tuesday included an FBI bulletin with photos of people seen in the riot, and prosecutors said the FBI had been tipped off that one of the men in the photo was Shively.
Shively contacted local law enforcement officials to “admit he was in the Capitol” during the uprising and said he wanted to surrender, according to a court complaint.
During an interview with the FBI in Pennsyvlvannia, Shively said he “got caught in the moment” and grabbed a police officer by the coat, according to the statement.
Prosecutors also shared a screenshot of Shively appearing to be pushing a Capitol Police officer – and Assistant US Attorney Scott Ford said at a hearing on Tuesday that Shively had “got his hands on” agents.
“His accusations are different from the majority of people who were in Washington. Not only did he unlawfully enter the Capitol, he even got hold of police officers on three separate occasions,” Ford said.
Defense attorney Thomas Thornton said he does not believe there is evidence that Shively was in the Capitol itself, but said he was on the property and was trampled by the crowd.
“Mr. Shively was a person who obviously got a little carried away during this situation, and he was only on the premises for a little over 10 minutes and then he left,” Thornton said at the hearing.
Ford said the FBI contacted Shively on Tuesday to tell him an arrest warrant had been filed, asking him to come in and bring his cell phone.
“(Shively) stated, ‘No, not only will I not take it, but I have already deleted everything from that cell phone,’ ” Ford told the hearing.
Thornton told CNN on Wednesday that Shively turned over his phone to authorities on Tuesday, that the items removed from it were “ videos he found on the internet, ” adding that Shively did not take any videos or photos in the Capitol.
“He fully cooperated after giving himself up,” Thornton told CNN.
Prosecutors noted that Shively, described in a lawsuit as a former United States Marine, was interviewed by CNN on Jan. 6 near the Capitol.
“I’ll tell you what happened, we broke down the barriers and we rushed them, we attacked them,” Shively told CNN’s Elle Reeve.
Reeve asked Shively what the group’s endgame was.
‘What must we do? The Supreme Court is not helping us. Nobody is helping us. Only we can help us. Only we can do it, ‘Shively said in the interview.
Judge Martin Carlson, a US judge, called charges that Shively had assaulted federal officers “serious, serious cases,” but allowed Shively to be released from custody.
CNN has asked prosecutors if they plan to appeal that decision.