Cleveland, Tenn., man charged with assaulting police during Capitol riot

A Cleveland, Tennessee, man was arrested Tuesday for his alleged participation in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.

Joseph “Jose” Lino Padilla, 40, is accused of getting into an altercation with a police officer and throwing a pole during the riot after people who recognized him tipped the FBI, according to federal court records.

Padilla had an initial appearance in federal court in Chattanooga Tuesday afternoon. His attorney Lee Davis declined to comment, noting that Tuesday’s proceeding was only an initial appearance following the arrest. All following proceedings will take place in Washington, D.C.

The anonymous tipsters, who recognized Padilla from videos circulating online, told the FBI that Padilla had “recently been immersed in the altright and had a ‘Q-Anon mentality.’”

Federal investigators were able to confirm Padilla’s presence at the Capitol by piecing together his movements shown in two online videos and body camera footage from a Metropolitan Police Department officer.

Following the riot, Padilla allegedly took to Facebook on Jan. 8 to share a video of rioters titled “Just after we stormed the 2nd tier of the Capitol” that had originally been posted to the website “streamable.”

“Most Beautiful thing I saw in DC on Wednesday,” Padilla wrote in his caption of the video.

In another social media comment detailed in the complaint, Padilla allegedly wrote, “If we could have occupied the Capitol, we could have invoked the right given to us in the 2nd paragraph of the Declaration of Independence….We would have been in the Seat of Power. All we would need to do is declare our grievances with the government and dissolve the legislature, and replace it with Patriots who were there. Then simply re-adopt the Constitution with amendments added to secure future Federal elections.”

Padilla faces six charges: obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, assault on law enforcement with a dangerous weapon, entering or remaining in any restricted area without lawful authority with a dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, engaging in physical violence in a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

He is currently being held at the Bradley County Jail.

Federal authorities have arrested more than 230 people in the attack on the Capitol, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to block Congress from certifying his re-election loss.