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Fairfield County resident Benjamin Cohen, age 21, of Westport, was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 9 in Westport, said the US Department of Justice.
Cohen was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, both felony offenses.
He had traveled with his mother to Washington to attend the rally, court documents show.
According to court documents, Cohen was identified by law enforcement among the crowd of rioters gathered along a police line on the West Plaza of the Capitol grounds.
Just before 2:30 p.m., open-source video and body-worn camera footage show Cohen joining rioters in breaching the police line and moving toward a group of officers, court documents show.
Cohen is then seen making physical contact with the group of officers by pushing and shoving them with his hands as the crowd surges forward.
Seconds later, Cohen rushes toward the officers again, shoving and striking officers with his hands. At some point shortly thereafter, video footage shows Cohen standing in the crowd of rioters, where he can be heard shouting, “Our House!”
Later, at approximately 2:50 p.m., Cohen is seen entering the Lower West Terrace tunnel, joining other rioters assembling against a police line. Cohen then makes his way deeper into the mob and begins to push against a rioter in front of him as additional rioters join the effort around him.
Together, the mob pushed in a concerted “heave-ho” effort against the police line in the tunnel.
After the first “heave-ho,” Cohen participated in subsequent efforts in the tunnel against the police line. At approximately 3 p.m., a rush of additional rioters entered the tunnel, and those rioters, including Cohen, engaged in another “heave-ho” effort by moving their bodies in unison back and forth, pushing with coordinated force against the police.
By approximately 3:05 p.m., Cohen made his way back to the tunnel entrance and began rinsing his eyes after having apparently been sprayed by officers. Cohen remained with the mob just outside the tunnel until at least 4 p.m., where he continued to assist combined efforts by the mob to push back into the tunnel, Justice Department officials said.
Court documents say that at some point thereafter, Cohen was photographed inside an office inside the Capitol building situated with a window, which had been broken, just to the left of the tunnel entrance. Cohen is then seen in an open-source video departing this office through the broken window.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s New Haven and Washington Field Offices, which identified Cohen in its seeking information photos.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
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