PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man who federal authorities say was caught on video using what appeared to be a wooden table leg to assault police at the Capitol on Jan. 6 is facing charges according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.
Timothy Desjardins, 35, of Providence faces six charges in federal court in Washington D.C. including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury, the FBI said in a statement.
In addition, a backpack containing an identification card for Desjardins as well as three small axes and other personal items was recovered the day after the insurrection from outside a Washington building where Desjardins had been sleeping, according to an FBI affidavit.
Desjardins also faces charges of civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building, according to court documents.
He was charged on Nov. 19.
No defense attorney was listed in online court records. A telephone number for the Providence barbershop he runs was not in service.
Desjardins is currently in state custody on unrelated charges, according to online state Department of Corrections records.
Desjardins was identified through publicly available video, U.S. Capitol Police surveillance video and police body-worn camera footage, according to the affidavit.
“A review of videos posted on YouTube revealed Desjardins assaulted multiple law enforcement officers … by striking the officers repeatedly with what appears to be a significant amount of force and using what appears to be a broken wooden table leg,” the affidavit said.
The alleged assault occurred in what’s known as the tunnel area of the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, authorities said.
Supporters of President Donald Trump broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 after a rally near the White House where he made false claims of election fraud and challenged them to “fight like hell.” About 700 people have been federally charged. Nine people died during and after the rioting.
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