WASHINGTON (WHDH) - A Connecticut man is facing charges after investigators say he assaulted a police officer during the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, officials announced Wednesday.
Patrick Edward McCaughey III was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, civil disorder, entering restricted building or grounds, and violent entry or disorderly conduct, according to the Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors allege McCaughey attacked the officer as a violent mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the halls of Congress of Jan. 6.
“The vicious attack on Officer Hodges was abhorrent and quintessentially un-American,” Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin said in a news release. “It is my pledge that anyone involved in violent attacks on law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. McCaughey’s alleged actions were an assault on Officer Hodges, the Capitol, and the rule of law itself.”
A video posted to YouTube captured a large group of rioters attempting to break through the line of uniformed law enforcement officers who were in place to prevent rioters from entering the lower west terrace door of the United States Capitol. In the front line of rioters, McCaughey can be seen using a clear police riot shield to physically push against the left side of an officer’s body, charging documents allege.
The officer was pinned between the clear police riot shield being held by McCaughey and the lower west terrace door, according to prosecutors. The officer appeared to be loudly crying out in pain.
As the officer was being pinned to the door by McCaughey, a separate rioter could be seen violently ripping off the officer’s gas mask, exposing the officer’s bloodied mouth. As McCaughey was using the riot shield to push against the officer, numerous other rioters that were seen behind and around him appeared to add to the weight against the officer.
Dozens of other rioters have since been charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol, while the FBI is still seeking to identify many more people.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)