Man charged in U.S. Capitol riot claimed to be “patriot warrior”

The Colorado geophysicist accused of dragging a U.S. Capitol Police officer down a set of stairs into a crowd where the officer was beaten during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol told investigators he was a “patriot warrior” who answered a “call to battle,” according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Jeffrey P. Sabol admitted to investigators that he was the man shown in video footage of the riot dragging a police officer down steps, but told investigators he wasn’t punching the officer in the back — as the video appears to show — but rather “patting him on the back” to say, “We got you, man,” according to the affidavit.

Sabol was ordered held without bail Friday after a prosecutor said he’d tried to flee to Switzerland and take his own life after the riot, with a magistrate judge determining he both presented a danger to the community and was likely to flee if released from custody. Sabol is charged with civil disorder for disrupting a police officer’s duties.

The 51-year-old man was stopped by police in New City, N.Y., on Jan. 11 after someone reported an erratic driver. The officers found Sabol behind the wheel, covered in blood and suffering from deep, self-inflicted cuts to his thighs and arms, according to the affidavit.

As officers helped him, he confessed that he was wanted by the FBI for “fighting tyranny in the D.C. Capitol,” according to the affidavit.

Officers found a Carhartt jacket in his car that matched one worn by the man who was shown on video pulling the officer down the steps, according to the affidavit.

They also discovered his passport, a plane ticket and rental car

agreement.

Video of the riot shows Sabol wielding a police baton after the Capitol Police officer was dragged down the steps, according to the affidavit, which says Sabol is shown holding the baton across the officer’s neck.

Sabol claimed he did that to “protect the officer,” according to the affidavit, although he admitted the photo of his actions “looked bad,” and said he couldn’t remember if he hit the officer with the baton, because he was in a “fit of rage.”

During Friday’s hearing, Sabol’s defense attorney said Sabol should be released because he had steady employment, only faced a civil disobedience charge — not an assault count — and was no longer suicidal after receiving treatment at a psychiatric facility.

Sabol is one of at least seven Colorado men to be charged in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol.