Kane Republican

2 Capitol riot defendants sought by FBI after disappeari­ng

- By Alanna Durkin Richer

The FBI is searching for a Florida woman who was supposed to stand trial Monday on charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as well as another riot defendant who has also gone missing, officials said.

A federal judge in Washington issued bench warrants for the arrest of Olivia Pollock and Joseph Hutchinson III last week after the court was notified that they had tampered with or removed the ankle monitors that track their location, said Joe Boland, a supervisor­y special agent with the FBI'S Lakeland, Florida office.

Boland said the FBI has recovered one of the defendants' ankle monitors after they removed it, but declined to say whether it was Pollock's or Hutchinson's. As of Monday afternoon, the FBI had not located either of them, he said.

Olivia Pollock, of Lakeland, is the sister of another Jan. 6 defendant, Jonathan Pollock, who has been on the lam for months. The FBI has offered a reward of up $30,000 in exchange for informatio­n leading to the arrest and conviction of her brother, who is accused of assaulting multiple police officers during the riot.

Olivia Pollock and Joseph Hutchinson were initially arrested in 2021 and charged in a fiveperson indictment with assaulting law enforcemen­t and other crimes. Hutchinson is representi­ng himself at trial, and an attorney appointed to assist him as standby counsel declined to comment on Monday.

Olivia Pollock's lawyer, Elita Amato, said Monday that her client “had been diligently assisting in her defense for her upcoming trial prior to her disappeara­nce.”

Authoritie­s encouraged anyone with informatio­n about their whereabout­s to contact the FBI.

Olivia Pollock, who was wearing a ballistic plate-carrier vest during the riot, is accused of elbowing an officer in the chest and trying to strip the officer's baton away during the melee. Jonathan Pollock is accused of thrusting a riot shield into an officer's face and throat, pulling an officer down steps and punching others.

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