MORE SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN RIOT AT U.S. CAPITOL
Retired firefighter accused of throwing extinguisher arrested
• A man photographed carrying a Confederate battle flag is among those taken into custody.
A recently retired Pennsylvania firefighter accused of throwing a fire extinguisher at a police officer, a man photographed carrying a Confederate flag, and a Californian accused of breaking a window of the building were all arrested Thursday in last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Robert Lee Sanford Jr., 55, of Chester, Pa., was charged with impeding officers, civil disorder, trespassing and violent conduct with a dangerous weapon on the restricted grounds of the Capitol, charges that carry a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Kevin Seefried, who was photographed carrying a Confederate flag inside the Capitol, turned himself in to authorities in Wilmington, Del., on Thursday morning, according to an FBI spokeswoman, Joy Jiras. He and his son, Hunter Seefried, are charged with misdemeanor counts of trespassing and disorderly conduct; Hunter Seefried is also accused of destruction of property.
Hunter Ehmke, of California, has been charged with being one of the first to try to break into the U.S. Capitol during last week’s riot, according to court documents
The extinguisher incident, for which Sanford is accused, was captured in two widely distributed videos of the scene outside the U.S. Capitol at the Lower West Terrace.
U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died as a result of injuries sustained in the riot, was hurt in a separate incident.
In charging papers, the FBI said a tipster in Pennsylvania called Tuesday saying that Sanford, a friend of many years, “had confessed to the complainant that he was the person that the FBI was looking for” in connection with videos showing a man apparently wearing a stocking cap, dark jacket, plaid shirt and backpack hurling an object at a group officers.
A Capitol Police officer was struck in the helmet by what he later saw was a fire extinguisher, the FBI said. The officer was evaluated at a hospital and cleared to return to duty. The device also ricocheted off two others, the FBI said in a charging affidavit.
Sanford said the group he was with left the Capitol grounds after about 10 minutes, and did not mention having thrown anything, but acknowledged he was the man wearing a hat with the initials CFD, the tipster said, according to FBI Agent Samad Shahrani.
Kevin and Hunter Seefried were identified as among the first group to break into the Capitol after a colleague called the FBI to report that the younger man had bragged about being at the riot with his father, according to court records.
In an interview, authorities say Kevin Seefried acknowledged being the man photographed with the Confederate flag, which normally hangs outside his Delaware home.
The men entered the Senate Building through a broken window at about 2:13 p.m., with a helmeted group captured in a widely shared video, FBI Special Agent Katherine Pattillo said in an affidavit.
According to court records, Kevin Seefried said both men came to hear Trump’s speech, and then marched to the Capitol led by a person with a bullhorn. He also confirmed that because his son was wearing gloves, Hunter Seefried was asked by a stranger to punch out glass from a Capitol complex window after others broke it with a 2x4 wooden plank, giving rioters entry, the FBI said.
The affidavit from Capitol Police Special Agent James Soltes in Ehmke’s case gives some picture of the chaos officers confronted. An Officer Fluke, while part of a line struggling to hold back the mob on the Capitol’s east side at about 2:15 p.m., told Soltes that he saw Ehmke on the ledge gesturing for others to join him.
“They’re going to break the window” Fluke shouted. He then left the line and ran toward Ehmke, according to the affidavit. He used his riot shield to push Ehmke off the ledge, he says, causing them both to fall in broken glass. About 10 officers made a new line at the window to keep a small crowd from getting through. Ehmke was handcuffed.
But the crowd “began to show aggression” and threatened officers, saying, “You’re not leaving with him,” Soltes writes. The offers tried to radio for instructions but “could not be clearly heard or unable to be broadcast due to the many other calls of service by USCP officers.”
So they let Ehmke leave, after photographing him and the window and seizing his driver’s license and advising him they would seek a warrant for his arrest.