An FBI affidavit accuses a Princeton University student from New Jersey of “obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement officers guarding the United States Capitol” during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Surveillance video allegedly shows 21-year-old Larry Fife Giberson of Manahawkin, New Jersey, alongside other rioters attempting to storm the Capitol claiming that former President Donald Trump was cheated in the 2020 presidential election.
Video posted to YouTube also appears to show the suspect sporting a Make America Great Again baseball cap while “engaged in a violent assault against multiple law enforcement officers” shortly after 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, according to federal officials.
Giberson is accused of pushing his way to the front of a pack of violent insurgents as they crushed badly outnumbered law enforcement officers against tunnel doors leading into the Capitol.
He appears to chant “Drag them out!” as officers fight for their lives. The affidavit claims Giberson stayed near the action for nearly an hour as police protecting election officials were battered and doused in pepper spray.
Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone, who was pulled into a mob of Trump loyalists while guarding that Lower West Terrace tunnel, told the congressional committee investigating the siege that he suffered a heart attack and brain injury after being pulled into the mob and tased.
“Kill him with his own gun!” one attacker allegedly said.
A Tennessee man was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in that assault.
Giberson was arrested Tuesday in Washington, D.C., more than 26 months after the Capitol was invaded. Court filings show he’s charged with a felony count of civil disorder.
The political science major — who’s scheduled to graduate with the Ivy League school’s class of 2023 —told The Daily Princetonian he’s cooperating with investigators. The FBI said Giberson confirmed he’s the man pictured in several photos and video clips he was shown.
The Justice Department said it so far has arrested more than 1,000 people in connection to the attack on the Capitol.
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