North Carolina Man Charged With Attacking Police With Pole In Capitol Riot - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2022) Federal authorities have arrested and charged a man from the US state of North Carolina with assaulting police with a pole during the riot that stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.

"A North Carolina man was arrested today for assaulting law enforcement officers during the breach of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021," the release said. "His and others' actions disrupted a joint session of the US Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

David Joseph Gietzen, 38, of Sanford, North Carolina, is charged in an indictment with a total of eight counts, including one charging him with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, two charging him with assaulting resisting or impeding officers, and related offenses, the department said.

"According to the indictment, Gietzen was illegally on the restricted Capitol grounds on January 6. He is accused of assaulting multiple law enforcement officers between 2:13 pm and 2:31 pm that day, using a pole in the last of the charged attacks, the release said.

In the 16 months since January 6, 2021, more than 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the US Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the Justice Department said.