An Indiana man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with his involvement in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Gregory Mijares was arrested on Sept. 8 in Crown Point, Indiana, and appeared in court in Indiana’s Northern District, according to a press release by the Department of Justice.
Mr. Mijares, 41, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia. Court documents show that Mr. Mijares entered the Capitol building wearing a gas mask.
The charges include a felony offense of civil disorder, as well as misdemeanor offenses of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds, the complaint states.
Court documents state that Mr. Mijares traveled to Washington to protest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. There, he also attended a rally in support of President Donald Trump.
The press release goes on to say that Mr. Mijares pursued officers who were in retreat, eventually making his way to the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol. He then reportedly obstructed officers as they attempted to fall back into the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, raising a flag over his head.
What ensued was a physical altercation between Mr. Mijares and officers, who tried to remove him from their path. According to CCTV footage from the Capitol, Mr. Mijares was among the first to pursue officers into the tunnel.
Mr. Mijares then went to pull open glass doors that officers had previously locked behind them after the glass was smashed by others during the breach, allowing crowds to advance through, the release states, before opening a second set of Tunnel doors just behind.
Attempts to push back Mr. Mijares with a riot shield reportedly resulted in him throwing himself into the shield. He was subsequently struck by an officer with a baton, resulting in him getting a hold of the baton, according to the release.
Mr. Mijares also stands accused of joining two separate “heave ho” attempts against police in the Tunnel for several minutes, followed by a third attempt as he moved further toward the front of the crowd.
His arrest followed a tip the FBI received in October 2021, although he was not taken in for questioning until nearly 18 months later, in March of this year.
During the interview, Mr. Mijares identified himself in several photographs. He also presented investigators with photos he had taken of himself at the location on Jan. 6, according to The Hill.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Indianapolis and Washington Field Offices in conjunction with U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
More than 1,100 individuals across the United States have so far been arrested in connection with the Capitol breach, including almost 400 who have been charged with either assaulting or obstructing law enforcement.
