The Justice Department announced that it had arrested the man allegedly seen in a viral video using a stolen riot shield to pin and help crush a police officer in a doorway as a large mob attempted to break through the police line and storm the U.S. Capitol.
Patrick McCaughey was charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding” police officers and with civil disorder, unlawful entry to Capitol grounds, and violent and disorderly conduct.
He was arrested in New York on Tuesday and charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for “assaulting an officer during the breach of the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021,” after he was reportedly seen on video pinning Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges with a clear police riot shield while the officer’s mask was ripped off, his face was bloodied, his baton was stolen, and he cried out as the mass of rioters attempted to push through the police and force their way into the Capitol.
“The vicious attack on Officer Hodges was abhorrent and quintessentially un-American,” acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said. “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 deputy U.S. marshal who wrote a lengthy criminal affidavit about McCaughey described how he could be seen on a number of YouTube videos helping to crush Hodges, a patrol officer for six years, into the terrace door and smashing other police officers with the stolen riot shield too.
“A large group of rioters attempted 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,” the deputy wrote, adding that video showed the “rioters use police riot shields and police riot batons to combat uniformed law enforcement officers” and that “unidentified rioters can also be overheard planning and implementing a rotation of rioters to have the ‘fresh’ rioters up front to combat law enforcement.”
The deputy marshal said that “as Officer Hodges was being pinned to the door by McCaughey, a separate rioter was violently ripping off Officer Hodges’ gas mask exposing Officer Hodges’ bloodied mouth,” and “as McCaughey was using the riot shield to push against Officer Hodges, numerous other rioters behind and around McCaughey appeared to add to the weight against Officer Hodges.”
McCaughey can allegedly be seen on videos repeatedly telling officers to leave, including saying, “Talk to your buddies and go home. … Don’t try to use that stick on me. I am not hurting you.” Shortly after, he tells Hodges to “let go of the stick, man,” and the video shows the officer’s baton lifted away into the crowd. He can be heard saying “my shield” and “get the f— out of here” as he hits other officers.
The deputy marshal said a “Witness-1” contacted the FBI and told the deputy that he was childhood friends with McCaughey, sharing a copy of four pictures and a short video sent by McCaughey to mutual friends, including a selfie on the scaffolding of the west front of the Capitol that the deputy matched with Capitol Police surveillance.
Hodges spoke with NBC Washington earlier in January.
“We were just fighting with everything we had to push them back. I got pinned to the doorway. They ripped my mask off. Stole my equipment. Beat me up. Sprayed me with everything. Thankfully, I was able to get out before any permanent damage was done,” Hodges said, adding, “I’m glad that video is going around because it shows people that we absolutely fought tooth and nail to keep the Capitol safe, to keep our congressmen safe, and keep them out.”
The officer also said that “the cognitive dissonance and the zealotry of these people is unreal, because they were waving the thin blue line flag while telling us that we’re traitors and calling themselves patriots, and later on beating us with the flags.” Despite his injuries, he said he didn’t regret being there, saying, “If it wasn’t my job, I would’ve done that for free.”
Dozens who participated in the chaos and violence at the Capitol have been arrested and charged with federal crimes.
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died on Jan. 7 “due to injuries sustained while on-duty” after he was “injured while physically engaging with protesters,” according to Capitol Police. Among the others who died amid the mayhem was Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and Trump supporter who was fatally shot by an officer while trying to climb through a broken window as a crowd tried to break down a door in the Capitol.
