Investigators allege Ohio man entered Capitol during Jan. 6 riot
Another central Ohioan has been arrested for alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Caleb Jones, 23, from Columbus’s northwest side, is accused of climbing a wall to gain access to the U.S. Capitol and was subjected to tear gas on Jan. 6, according to documents in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. Like others in the mob who have been arrested, he is expected to face charges of entering a restricting building or grounds without authority to do so, disrupting government business or official functions and other counts.
Jones is one of several hundred people nationally and
Investigators say this image, filed as part of a criminal complaint in federal court, shows Caleb Jones, of Columbus, among rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. more than a dozen from Ohio who are facing charges as federal investigators scan social media posts, video footage and other evidence to identify those who stormed the Capitol while Congress was certifying Democrat Joe
Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
According to court documents, investigators were tipped to Jones’ involvement from witnesses who spotted him in television coverage or received text and telephone messages from him that day.
One witness said Jones had “accessed the Capitol building by scaling an exterior wall … (and) was subjected to tear gas before being escorted outside of the Capitol building by law enforcement,” according to documents.
One witness, who was initially reluctant to confirm Jones’s involvement, later told investigators that “Jones only went inside the building because he was allowed to enter,” according to documents.
Jones made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Monday and was released (prosecutors did not seek detention), with proceedings against him continuing through the federal court in Washington, D.C.