An aspiring Texas actor, who said he was almost “gassed like … a Jew” during the Capitol uprising, has been accused of using a crutch to bash a cop in the January 6 riot. .
Luke Coffee, a 41-year-old from Dallas, has been charged with a slew of crimes, including assault of a federal law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In a recently unsealed indictment, prosecutors said that photos and videos show coffee with a crutch to attack DC police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol.
Before reaching fame by storming the Capitol, Coffee worked in post-production on two primetime television shows, including Everwood, according to its IMDB page. Coffee returned to Dallas in 2010 after stints in Hollywood and Cape Town and founded a production house under the umbrella of a company owned by his mentor, director Rocky Powell, according to his website. He directed a documentary, a TV pilot and continued acting, with appearances on NBC’s Friday night lights and Las Vegas
But his social media shows his affinity with former President Donald Trump and his belief in conspiracy theories, including QAnon and how hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19. The day before the riots, Coffee said in a YouTube video, “All hell breaks loose tomorrow,” before naming former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. “Cue the storm baby Q storm,” he added.
Coffee also documented his trip to the Capitol, according to Dallas news site Central Track. On the morning of the riots, Coffee – who, according to prosecutors, was wearing a brown cowboy hat, camouflage jacket and blue bandanna – posted a photo alongside another rioters. Behind them, hundreds of rioters with MAGA flags can be seen.
“Historical day for ‘Merica !!” Coffee captioned the photo on Facebook.
The complaint alleges that during the riots, Coffee can be seen in videos on the steps of the Capitol at the entrance to the Lower Terrace tunnel. He turns to the sea of rioters trying to break through the building and make “different statements,” although it is not clear what he said.
The group of rioters at the Lower Entrance tunnel, including Coffee, violently assaulted officers with blunt objects and threw items at officers, the complaint said. A police officer was “forcibly dragged down the stairs from the Lower Terrace by protesters.”
Coffee was seen holding a crutch over his head before lowering it to his waist and rushing into the line of DC and Capitol Police officers, the complaint says.
Bodycam footage shows that, after Coffee was pushed back, he attacked the officers again, using the crutch “as a blunt object weapon by placing the crutch directly to the officer’s upper chest / head area.” It took about two DC agents to stop Coffee and his makeshift weapon.
Prosecutors add that video footage shows the crutch being passed on to various uprisings that all used it to attack officers.
The FBI was tipped off to Coffee by several witnesses, including a “ college classmate who happens to be a special agent, ” the complaint says. One witness, who said they met Coffee in mid-2020, said they recognized him for wearing “eye-catching clothing.” The witness also added that Coffee was featured in a YouTube video last October in which he “discussed various conspiracy theories.”
In an interview with federal authorities on Jan. 13, Coffee admitted that he was driving a truck from Dallas to Washington and was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. While acknowledging that he was “holding a crutch over his head” outside the building, “Coffee stated that he did not engage in any form of physical confrontation with the police while in the Capitol,” the complaint said.
After the riots, Coffee appeared in several YouTube videos, continuing his rant about other conspiracy theories, including questioning the validity of the moon landing, and dabbling in Flat Earth and reptilian beliefs. In a Facebook video since deleted, he admitted to pushing the police with the crutch.
I was ready to die last night … And I literally thought I was being gassed like I was in Nazi Germany.
Luke Coffee
‘Those cops I fought against, I pushed, I grabbed a crutch. And I went in and pushed the line. I pushed everything against the line and tried to push them back, and God gave me some supernatural energy, and they sprayed in my eyes, ”Coffee said in the Facebook video, according to Central Track.
Coffee described the violence as an “antifa false flag attack” and added that he was “ready to die” while “patriots” exercised their right to free speech.
‘I was ready to die last night. We thought so, we were totally gassed. And I literally thought I was being gassed like I was in Nazi Germany, a Jew being gassed. Okay, ”he said.
Daniel Caldwell, a 50-year-old from Texas, was also charged Friday with assault and “spraying a mist at police officers” who tried to protect the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Caldwell, who can be seen in photos and videos in a camouflage outfit and a hoodie that says “Guns SAVE Lives”, was interviewed at a hotel in DC after the riot. He admitted he was in the Capitol when a fight broke out and a “female was beaten in the neck,” he said, according to a recently unsealed complaint.
According to Caldwell, the fight started and then ‘they took their boys’ and then someone took her (referring to the female that was beaten) and left, ‘says the complaint.’ Caldwell said people stayed close and that The police were spraying him with a mace. Caldwell said he told them if they went ahead he would return the spray. ”
Caldwell then said in the interview that “as soon as the officers sprayed him” he retaliated and sprayed about 15 officers. Caldwell said officers then shot him with a large rubber-bulleted cannon, the complaint added.
The complaint says the FBI has received many tips about Caldwell, including from a witness who said he was engaged with the 50-year-old engaged in an Airsoft Military Simulation – or MilSim. The game has been described as “a live-action, in-person simulation of civilian armed conflict scenarios using airsoft plastic projectiles launched by replica weapons, but not actual firearms.”
The witness told the FBI that he met Caldwell about three years ago while playing MilSim and described him as a “huge white supremacist” and “a complete idiot.”
While playing the game, the witness said Caldwell would “bring a real firearm to the track and have to be corrected several times to return the firearm to his vehicle,” the complaint states.