Topline
The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced the arrest and indictment of a Texas man accused of beating D.C. Metropolitan police officer Daniel Hodges with his own baton during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, an incident that went viral and was recounted in emotional testimony during a Jan. 6 select committee hearing.
Key Facts
In a superseding indictment of nine Capitol riot defendants who stormed officers in a tunnel at the Capitol’s lower west terrace, Steven Cappuccio faces a multitude of charges, including assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon and robbery.
Federal prosecutors accuse Cappuccio, a 57-year-old from Universal City, Texas, of stealing a baton from Hodges, identified in the court documents as D.H., and using it to assault him as he tried to repel the rioters.
The DOJ said in a statement Cappuccio was the previously unidentified man in a video released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that showed him attempting to rip off Hodges’ gas mask.
Hodges – who would later become crushed between two doors, maskless and bleeding from his mouth – testified to the select committee that an attacker “bashed me in the face and head” with his baton, injuring his skull and rupturing his lip.
All nine defendants in the indictment are accusing of participating in the tunnel assault, including Ohio resident Dave Mehaffie, dubbed “#TunnelCommander” online due to FBI video that shows him giving orders to rioters, according to HuffPost.
Key Background
The video of Hodges’ assault has become one of the most prominent examples of the violence and bloodshed of the Capitol riot, in which hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to stop lawmakers from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. The video was played during Trump’s Senate impeachment trial in February, in which he was acquitted for inciting the attack despite seven Republicans voting to convict.
Crucial Quote
“He never uttered any words I recognized but opted instead for guttural screams. I remember him foaming at the mouth. He also put his cell phone in his mouth so he had both hands free to assault me,” Hodges said of the attack in his congressional testimony.
Big Number
570. That’s how many people have been arrested in the seven months since Jan. 6, including defendants from nearly all 50 states and 170 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers, according to the DOJ.
