Two Montana brothers accused of being among the first ten people to storm the U.S. Capitol, before chasing a single black police officer through the building and wreaking havoc in the Senate chamber, have been charged.
Joshua Calvin Hughes and his brother Jerod Wade Hughes have been charged with a number of crimes, including obstruction of an official process, destruction of property, and unauthorized entry into the Capitol. The brothers are among more than 150 riot police who have been charged with the Jan. 6 insurgency, including several members of far-right organizations and former police officers.
Prosecutors allege the brothers were one of the initial troops who burst into the building through a window and advanced toward the Senate floor. The couple confronted Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman, who was alone trying to protect Senate chambers, and was seen in a video heroically pushing one of the riot police and deflecting the crowd. Goodman ended up being chased down the halls of the building and up the stairs.
The actions of Goodman, who potentially saved the lives of Vice President Mike Pence and other elected officials who were in the Senate, were filmed by HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic in a clip that has been seen over ten million sometimes on Twitter.
Goodman was promoted last week to assistant sergeant in arms and escorted Elected Vice President Kamala Harris, the first black woman to hold office at the inauguration.
According to a criminal complaint, the brothers were seen in videos and surveillance footage between a group “that broke down doors and windows and forced them to enter” the Capitol. In a video, you can see someone breaking a window with what looks like a police riot shield before climbing into it.
Once inside, Jerod Hughes was seen kicking a door “until the lock was broken so that other riots could enter” the building.
After the interaction with Goodman, more cops were called in to make backups.
“Officers reported that they were too outnumbered to try to stop the riot police, so they used their training to try to reduce the situation by talking to individuals to try to calm them down,” the complaint says.
“Despite these efforts, officers received shouting and assaults. When reviewing a digital video recording of this altercation, you can hear riot police shouting “this is our home”, “this is our America” and “we are here for corrupt government”.
During the altercation with police, a riot police smashed a fire extinguisher to the ground, breaking what was described as an “explosion”. The incident slowed the situation and forced the crowd to leave the atrium of the Capitol, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors, however, said the Hughes brothers did not leave and eventually found their way to the Senate flat.
“While on the Senate floor, Joshua Calvin Hughes, Jerod Wade Hughes and other riot police sat in senators’ chairs, opened senators ’desks and checked stored sensitive material,” the complaint states.
The complaint says the brothers turned themselves in to police on Jan. 11 after seeing the news and believing they were wanted by the FBI.
A Facebook account that matches Joshua Hughes ’name and location has several photos of the Montana native wearing a MAGIC hat. His “likes” include Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Tomi Lahren, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and the former president.
According to the social media account, Hughes went to the University of Montana, where he studied health and human performance.
On Thursday, Las Vegas authorities also arrested two men who allegedly created a GoFundMe to help fund their trip to DC for the riot.
Nathaniel DeGrave, a 31-year-old man from Las Vegas, was charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building with no lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A criminal complaint also mentions that Ronald Sandlin, 31, was arrested at the DeGrave apartment complex.
Josiah Colt, who went to DC with the couple, has already been charged with the same crimes after he was pictured sitting in the chair of Vice President Mike Pence. Colt also infamous abseiling in the Senate chamber instead of taking the nearby stairs.
Prosecutors say Sandlin posted online two days before Christmas that he was going to DC to “show support for our president and do my part to stop the robbery and stand behind Trump when he decides to cross the rubric. If you’re a patriot , I think it’s your duty to be there. I see it as my civic responsibility. “
New Year’s Eve posted, “Dear Patriots, I’m organizing a caravan of patriots going to Washington DC to be behind our President Donald J. Trump,” and added that although the trio had already booked their journey, they needed “help and support.”
“All the dollars you give us are a small face to Antifa. Every penny is a boot against tyranny. Every Buffalo nickel is a blow against China. If you can’t be there in person, this is the next best thing, ”Sandlin said in a Dec. 31 Facebook post that included a link to a GoFundMe page titled“ Patriots Defending Our Country on Jan. 6, organized for Ronnie Sandlin “.
In a January 2 Facebook post, Sandlin reported that GoFundMe removed its fundraiser. “This is a tyranny,” he said.
The trio is seen in several photos and videos storming the Capitol, including one in which Sandlin and DeGrave are pushing cops. The men also recorded videos of themselves before, during and after the riots demanding that the elections be stolen.
The complaint says that in another video, DeGrave speaks directly to the camera and says, “We’re here protecting the country, if the shit falls, if [former Vice President Mike] Pence does what we think he will do, then we are here to defend this city, to defend any city in this country. Let Antifa test us, we are here, we are ready. I say bring it. We are no longer silent. “