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Patrick Edward McCaughey III, age 23, of Ridgefield, "knowingly and willfully joined a crowd of individuals who forcibly entered the grounds of the United States Capitol and impeded, disrupted, and disturbed the orderly conduct of business by the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate," according to a complaint by Federal authorities.
After Metro Police shared images of a suspect wanted in connection to the incident, two tipsters directed authorities to McCaughey.
McCaughey was charged with:
- Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees;
- Restricted building or grounds;
- Civil disorder;
- Violent entry or disorderly conduct.
Officer Daniel Hodges, of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department was working his evening shift in his official capacity while wearing his official MPD uniform on Jan. 6, according to the federal complaint.
During that shift, Officer Hodges was directed to report to the Capitol building to assist the United States Capitol Police in their duties to maintain the security of the United States Capitol building.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Officer Hodges and many other MPD and USCP officers gathered in the interior tunnel of the United States Capitol building, which leads out to an archway by the lower west terrace door.
A large crowd of rioters pushed forward into the tunnel and tried to push past the line of police.
Portions of the rioters’ effort to get into the tunnel at the lower west terrace door was captured in video footage posted to YouTube.
The video showed 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.
Hodges and other law enforcement officers are at the front of the line attempting to stop numerous rioters from gaining access to the United States Capitol Building.
Unidentified rioters can also be overheard planning and implementing a rotation of rioters to have the “fresh” rioters upfront to combat law enforcement, with various unidentified individuals yelling “we need fresh patriots in the front” and “we need fresh people.”
"In the front line of rioters, an individual, who has subsequently been identified as McCaughey, with shoulder length light brown hair, slightly tinted eyeglasses, and wearing a brown in color hooded sweatshirt can be seen using a clear police riot shield to physically push against the left side of Officer Hodges’ body," the federal complaint against McCaughey added.
Officer Hodges was pinned between the clear police riot shield being held by McCaughey and the lower west terrace door. Officer Hodges appeared to be loudly crying out in pain, the federal complaint added.
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.
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.
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