Charges show extent of pro- Trump danger

Truck at Capitol carried Molotov cocktails filled with homemade napalm

WASHINGTON— Federal criminal charges from Wednesday’s mob attack on Congress highlight how much more dangerous the situation could have been, including what federal prosecutors said was a truck on the Capitol grounds with 11 Molotov cocktails made with a material to make them more like homemade napalm.

Amid the chaos of the insurrection — as the hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters rummaged through Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, entered the House and Senate floors and roamed the hallways — Capitol Police also responded to reports of pipe bombs at the National Republican Club, 300 First St. SE, and three blocks away at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters, 430 South Capitol St. SE, court records show.

While conducting sweeps of the area, Capitol Police officers found the Molotov cocktails in mason jars, with golf tees in the top of each lid, along with cloth rags and lighters, in the bed of a red GMC Sierra 1500 truck with Alabama license plates, according to an affidavit filed with charges unsealed Friday.

The officers also found, in the cab of the truck, a handgun and an M4 carbine rifle, which is a lighter version of a military assault rifle, and loaded magazines, the court records state. They arrested Lonnie Coffman of Alabama when he returned for the truck, and he faces charges related to those weapons. And Christopher Alberts, 33, of Maryland, faces charges he entered the Capitol Building, authorities said. He already had been arrested by D. C. Police on charges he had a loaded 9 mm handgun as authorities were clearing the area later Wednesday night after a curfew.

Those arrests were among the federal criminal cases, some still under seal and some that will be released, announced Friday by the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

“Today’s charges are just the start of the results of the extensive work done by the FBI and our partners over the last few days, and we are far from done,” Steven D’Antuono, the assistant director in charge for the Washington Field Office of the FBI, told reporters Friday. “We are combing through tips we have received from the public, and we will move forward any appropriate investigative activity that will bring those responsible to justice.”

The effort has gone nationwide, in part because Capitol Police allowed many of those who stormed the Capitol Building and caused destruction to leave without arresting them.

A man photographed in Pelosi’s office during the mob and then outside the building holding a piece of her mail, Richard Barnett, has been arrested in Little Rock, Arkansas