Police on Saturday accused more Capitol rioters, including a man who carried away the House speaker’s lectern, when more graphic details of the uprising came to light, revealing the violence and brutality of the crowd seizing a seat. of American political power.
A bloody officer was crushed in a doorway during Wednesday’s siege, forcing lawmakers to go into hiding for hours and halt their vote to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Another officer tumbled over a railing in the crowd below after being hit with the body from behind. Members of the media were cursed, pushed and beaten.
A large number of photos and videos captured the riot, in which five people were killed. Many of the photos were taken by the rioters themselves, few of whom wore masks that would have lowered not only their chances of getting the coronavirus, but their chances of being identified. Some did their best to stand out.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, an Arizona man who appeared in photos and video of the crowd with a painted face wearing a costume with a horned fur hat, was taken into custody Saturday and charged with counts including violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol . .
Chansley, better known as Jake Angeli, will remain in custody in Arizona pending a detention hearing scheduled for an initial trial in court early next week, assistant US attorney Esther Winne told The United States by email. Associated Press. Chansley did not immediately respond to messages left by email and phone.
Chansley, who had become a staple of his costume in pro-Trump protests across the country, is now one of dozens of people arrested in the wake of the Capitol invasion by a large crowd of Trump supporters outraged about his election loss.
The rioters took over the rooms of the House and Senate, smashed windows and waved Trump, American and Confederate flags.
A Florida man accused of leaving Pelosi’s lectern during the chaos was arrested Friday night under federal warrant and detained without bail in Pinellas County, Florida on Saturday. Prison records do not indicate whether Adam Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Florida, has a lawyer.
Johnson was charged Saturday with theft, violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
The married father of five was quickly identified on social media by locals as the man in a photo who smiled as he walked through the Capitol rotunda with Pelosi’s lectern, The Bradenton Herald reported.
Johnson posted on social media that he was in Washington, DC during Wednesday’s riots, recording derogatory comments about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The Bradenton Herald. Those messages were later deleted or deleted.
During Wednesday’s violence, Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick was injured in a confrontation with attackers and was reportedly hit by a fire extinguisher. He died on Thursday evening. Another officer was crushed in a doorway, but it is unclear what happened to that officer, whose condition was captured on camera and shared by the progressive organization Status Coup. Members of media organizations, including the AP and The New York Times, were also attacked.
On Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 others in the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of crimes ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol to stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers.
Prosecutors said more cases remained sealed, dozens of other people were wanted by federal agents, and the US attorney in Washington vowed Friday that “all options were on the table” for charges, including possible incitement.
Other notable arrests during the Capitol invasion include:
– Doug Jensen, an Iowa man, was jailed early on Saturday on federal charges, including trespasses and disorderly conduct, for his alleged role in the riot at the Capitol. Jensen, 41, of Des Moines, was held without bail in the Polk County Jail and Sgt. Ryan Evans said he didn’t know if Jensen had a lawyer. A video posted online during the storming of the Capitol showed a man who appears to be Jensen, a white person, chasing a black officer down an interior staircase as a crowd of people walk a few steps behind them. At various times the officer says “come back”, but to no avail.
– Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who appeared in a frequently seen photograph in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with his boots on a desk after the Capitol storming, was arrested by the FBI on Friday. Barnett, 60, turned himself in to FBI agents in the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Bentonville, Arkansas. He is in prison at the Washington County Detention Center in nearby Fayetteville, Arkansas, without bond pending an initial appearance in court, FBI Little Rock spokesman Connor Hagan said. No attorney is listed in the Gravette, Arkansas, man’s online prison records.
– Derrick Evans, a West Virginia state legislator who posted videos online showing him working his way around the Capitol, was arrested at his home by the FBI on Friday and charged with trespassing on banned federal property. Faced with a bipartisan appeal to him to resign, Evans filed a letter of resignation with the West Virginia government, Jim Justice, on Saturday, apologizing for his actions. Evans is accused of entering a restricted area of the US Capitol after livestreaming himself and rushing into the building with a horde of raging Trump supporters. The videos show Evans punching a police officer with his fist and then spinning around the roundabout shouting, “Our house!”
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Callahan reported from Indianapolis. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Paul Davenport contributed to this report.