LOS ANGELES — Federal agents arrested a participant in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol for his alleged role in the insurrection after an hours-long standoff Thursday, authorities said.
Eric Christie, 56, was arrested in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.
He initially refused to comply with federal agents’ orders, but surrendered without incident after three hours of negotiations, Eimiller said. She did not comment on whether he was armed during the confrontation.
Video and photographs of the uprising, discovered by online detectives, show Christie at the Capitol last year wrapped in a rainbow flag with a hammer attached to his belt, federal court documents show.
A video captured Christie shouting “this is our Capitol” into a megaphone as the crowd rushed toward the Capitol as police tried to hold them back, according to court documents filed in connection with his arrest in California.
A federal judge ordered Christie’s arrest Friday, according to Christie’s attorney, George Newhouse.
“We disagreed with the judge’s findings that he is a flight risk,” Newhouse said in an email to The Associated Press. “Mr. Christie will defend himself in Washington D.C. as he believes his actions were within the zone of protection afforded by the First Amendment.”
Christie’s arrest Thursday came the same day the House committee on Jan. 6 released its final report, which concluded an 18-month investigation, saying Donald Trump criminally participated in a “multi-part conspiracy ” to nullify the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election. and failed to act to prevent his supporters from attacking the Capitol.
Christie faces federal charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly weapon, as well as disorderly or disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly weapon, according to court documents.
NBC News first reported Christie’s arrest.
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