A father and son from New Jersey have been charged with taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, during which, federal prosectors said on Wednesday, the older of the two hit a police officer with a chair thrown through a window and also shoved an officer’s head.
The men, Richard Andrews of Brick Township and Keith Andrews of Howell, were arrested in New Jersey on Tuesday, prosecutors said.
Richard Andrews, 72, was charged with the felony offenses of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. He was also charged with several misdemeanors. Keith Andrews, 49, faces misdemeanor charges that include disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
The two men were released after an initial appearance in Federal District Court in Newark, where each was ordered to post a $100,000 bond.
Michael Baldassare, a lawyer for Keith Andrews, said his client “looks forward to addressing these charges and standing with his father.” A lawyer for Richard Andrews did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The father and son are among more than 1,532 people to be charged in connection with the riot, and Richard Andrews is among more than 571 to be charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers, according to the Justice Department. They and other supporters of Donald J. Trump stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. The investigation into the day’s events is continuing.
Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee in this year’s presidential election, was charged with three conspiracy counts arising from the riot. He has pleaded not guilty, and a federal judge will ultimately determine which parts of the indictment should survive under a landmark Supreme Court ruling in July.
The Andrewses, who operate a family-owned auto body shop in Brick, were in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to attend Mr. Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse, a park near the White House, according to a court document prepared by an F.B.I. agent.
After the rally, the document says, they joined a mob of Mr. Trump’s supporters that was moving to the Capitol. Once there, they climbed a scaffolding to reach an upper terrace on the building’s west side.
Shortly before 3 p.m., as the Capitol Police tried to keep rioters from entering the building, Keith Andrews made his way inside through a window, according to the F.B.I. agent.
As other rioters overran the police, the agent’s court filing says, Mr. Andrews left through the same window and waved his arm to encourage others to enter. He then climbed back through the window and the crowd of rioters he was with pushed Capitol Police officers back.
He stayed in a Senate hallway for 10 minutes, repeatedly encouraging other rioters to enter the building, according to the F.B.I. agent. He exited the building and then entered again.
Around 3:15 p.m., law enforcement officers trying to clear the area of rioters closed the shutters on the window that Mr. Andrews had initially climbed through, the agent’s court filing says.
Just after the police finished closing the shutters, the document says, Richard Andrews threw a chair through the shutters, forcing them open; the chair also hit an officer.
About two minutes later, Keith Andrews entered the building for the third time, this time through a Senate door, and appeared to argue with officers who were trying to clear the building, according to images gathered by investigators. He left the Capitol shortly afterward.
By about 4:30 p.m., officers trying to clear an upper terrace confronted rioters at the terrace’s edge, the court filing says. While some officers tried to direct the rioters to a lower terrace, Richard Andrews leaned down and shoved a Metropolitan Police officer on the head, the document says.
At that point, it says, officers deployed a chemical riot-control agent at the elder Mr. Andrews, and he retreated into the crowd.
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