FBI still trying to identify Capitol riot suspects

Six months after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, authorities are still searching for hundreds of suspects accused of violent acts that day.

The FBI released new videos Tuesday that they say show 11 people assaulting officers during fighting outside the Capitol. The suspects have yet to be identified, and the FBI is seeking the public’s help.

The videos show the suspects lunging toward officers, grabbing at their tactical batons and squaring up to fight, and provide a stark reminder of the size of the crowd and the challenge law enforcement has faced in identifying rioters.

One video shows a person in a gas mask lunging toward police with a long metal pole. Another shows a man who appears to be wearing swim goggles in photos released by the FBI. During the fighting, he approaches police and rams himself against their body shields.

In separate videos, at least five of the suspects can be seen grabbing officers’ tactical batons — including one man who wears a “TRUMP” hat and another who lunges toward police, shouting, “Get out of here, this is our house!” 

In another video, a man is seen wearing a skull mask — which the Southern Poverty Law Center says is a symbol associated with a neo-Nazi online forum. He yells expletives at police and moves a bike rack barrier before retreating to the back of the crowd. In a separate clip, he and another man can be seen hurling a brown pole, taller than themselves, high into the air.

The Justice Department said Tuesday that more than 535 people have been arrested so far in connection with the attack on the Capitol. Many of those arrests were made with help from tipsters, including internet sleuths, friends, ex-lovers and family members.

At least 165 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including over 50 individuals who were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.

The FBI said that at least three suspects — Reed Christensen, Jonathan Munafo and Nicholas Brockhoff — were arrested because of tips the public submitted after the FBI released videos of the men at the Capitol. 

Prosecutors said Christensen shoved and punched officers after police had given him water to help wash away chemical irritants from his face. Munafo punched an officer twice in the head before violently stealing a riot shield, prosecutors said, and Brockhoff is accused of spraying a fire extinguisher at police.

Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, encouraged the public to continue sending tips to the FBI. “As we have seen with dozens of cases so far, the tips matter,” he said.

In total, CBS News has found that more than 150 officers were injured in the attack. The FBI’s wanted page still shows hundreds of suspects accused of violent acts at the Capitol January 6.