A Springfield man has been arrested on felony charges for assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Joseph Brody, 23, reportedly entered the Capitol just after 2 p.m. alongside four associates, with whom he moved throughout multiple levels and rooms of the building, including the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the floor of the U.S. Senate Chamber, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
The group exited the Capitol after about 35 minutes and moved to the north end of the building, where they witnessed the chaotic scene of the North Door being breached. There, Brody assisted one individual in the mob in using a metal barricade as a blunt object against a U.S. Capitol Police officer, the report alleges, knocking multiple officers back in the process. He also reportedly joined others in destroying media equipment.
Brody was arrested earlier this month and has been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, causing bodily injury, interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, and obstruction of an official proceeding, all felony charges.
He has also been charged with two misdemeanor offenses for his role in disrupting “a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election,” the Justice Department release said.
Brody appeared in front of a DC judge on September 15 and was released later that day, pending additional court proceedings.
More than 870 people have been arrested in connection with the riot since Jan. 6, 2021. Approximately 265 have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
In August, former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after being convicted of charges that included interfering with police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon — a large wooden stick.
Feature image, MarketingShotz/stock.adobe.com
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