Southern California brothers arrested over Capitol attack

Two Southern California brothers were arrested Tuesday, accused of taking part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 along with hundreds of supporters of former president Donald Trump.

FBI agents raided the homes of Kevin Cordon, 33, of Alhambra and Sean Carlo Cordon, 35, of Los Angeles early Tuesday morning, taking them into custody without incident, a spokeswoman for the agency said.

Both appeared in U.S. District Court in downtown L.A. Tuesday and were charged with breaking into the Capitol and attempting to impede an official proceeding. The brothers were released on $50,000 bail and under conditions by a judge. Their next court date was not immediately available.

The brothers are two of a handful of Californians who have been arrested and charged for allegedly entering the Capitol grounds during the riot. Hundreds mobbed the seat of the U.S. government that day, forcing members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence to flee in the middle of a symbolic vote to certify the election of President Joe Biden.

Since then, hundreds of people who were alleged to have broken in with the mob have been arrested and charged.

In his affidavit unsealed Tuesday, the FBI agent who tracked down the brothers said he identified them as participants in the Capitol attack through surveillance camera footage, flight records, their drivers licenses and even location data from their photos created when they made calls from inside the building or around Washington, D.C. the same day.

Kevin Cordon first came to the FBI’s attention through a video published on a Finnish news website. A reporter for the website interviewed Cordon, wrapped in an American flag and sporting a bloody forehead, as he left the Capitol grounds. The FBI said Sean Cordon also could be seen in the video just behind him.

The FBI said footage showed both brothers, Kevin Cordon in the American flag and Sean Cordon wearing a gas mask, enter the building through a broken window.