PROSECUTORS FILE CHARGES VS 2 IN TRUMP-INSTIGATED RIOT

Federal prosecutors filed their first charges stemming from the riot, charging one man with assaulting a police officer and another with illegally possessing a loaded handgun, Alan Feuer reported for the New York Times.

Both criminal complaints were filed in Federal District Court in Washington. The city’s Metropolitan Police Department had announced earlier that its officers had arrested nearly 70 people at the riot on charges that included unlawful entry, gun possession and assault. In a separate statement, the Capitol Police announced the arrests of 14 other people.

The first federal complaint accused Mark J. Leffingwell of assaulting a Capitol Police officer around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday in a hallway in the Senate wing of the Capitol building.

The officer, Daniel Amendola, said in the complaint that Mr. Leffingwell was part of a crowd that had “breached a window.”

When Officer Amendola sought to stop him and others from entering the building any further, Mr. Leffingwell punched him repeatedly in the head and chest, according to the complaint. Mr. Leffingwell then “spontaneously apologized."

Prosecutors also unsealed charges against a Maryland resident, Christopher Alberts, accusing him of illegally carrying a black Taurus 9-millimeter pistol at the riot.

Officers first saw Mr. Alberts leaving the Capitol complex around 7:30 p.m. and noticed “a bulge” on his right hip.

When they stopped Mr. Alberts, the officers found the pistol, which had one round in the chamber and a magazine filled with 12 rounds, according to the complaint. They also discovered that he was wearing a bulletproof vest and had a gas mask in his backpack.

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