A Washington DC police officer witnessed rioters using military-style hand gestures to enter the United States Capitol during the breach on Jan. 6, a law enforcement official tells CBS News.
Identifying individuals using small unit military tactics is one of the “top priorities” for an incendiary task force led by the DCUS law firm. The apparent use of “small unit tactics,” trained as military and law enforcement personnel, received immediate attention from investigators. These tactics were seen both outside and inside the Capitol, CBS News has learned.
Federal investigators view images that have appeared on social media as well as thousands of hours of video from closed-circuit cameras placed outside the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Republican National Committee, the Democratic National Committee, the Capitol campus and the police . cameras.
Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Tuesday that his office is investigating possible incendiary conspiracy allegations in its investigation of the riot.
Sherwin said the investigation into rioters’ planning includes searching travel data, financial information, and communications.
On Thursday, prosecutors said a retired Texas Air Force officer was arrested after being included in a viral photo wearing zippered plastic handcuffs for planning to “take hostages.”
“He wants to take hostages. He wants to kidnap, restrain, maybe try, maybe execute,” Assistant Attorney Jay Weimer said of retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr., who was also the subject of a Yorker article.
Federal authorities have charged more than 40 people in connection with the Capitol uprising. Among them were two retired Rocky Mount, Virginia, police officers, Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, each faced with a count of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or property without legal authority and a count of violent and disorderly entry behavior on Capitol grounds.
Fracker is a Lance Corporal in the Virginia National Guard and is currently not on duty with the Virginia National Guard forces in Washington, DC. The Virginia National Guard will investigate.
Prosecutors wrote in a complaint Robertson wrote in a social media post: “CNN and the left are just angry because we attacked the government that is the problem and not some random small business … The right IN ONE DAY took the f * **** US Capitol. Keep poking us. ”
Fracker posted a since-deleted comment on Facebook that read, “Lol to anyone who might be concerned about the photo of me circulating … Sorry, I hate freedom? … Not like I did anything illegal … you guys all do what you feel should, “the complaint said.