[Warning: Video is disturbing.]
An individual seen at the shooting of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, 35, was arrested Saturday for his part in the D.C. insurrection, the Department of Justice said. Kentucky man Chad Barrett Jones, 42, is the person caught on video using a flagpole to smash a windowed door to the barricaded Speaker’s Lobby, the hallway that leads to the House chambers, authorities said.
Supporters of President Donald Trump raided the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 after POTUS continued to lie that he actually won the 2020 presidential election and that it was being stolen from him and given to Joe Biden. In the video above (starting at about 1:37), the man in a jacket and a beanie started smashing the window with the end of the flagpole, with the flag wrapped up around the pole. Babbitt began to climb up through a nearby open frame, but a law enforcement officer shot her. She fell back to the floor. Video from the scene showed a bleeding Babbitt being wheeled out on a stretcher. The shooting was fatal.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said they learned flagpole man’s identity two days later. A family member turned him in. From the affidavit:
On January 8, 2021, W-1 submitted a tip to the FBI National Threat Operation Center. W-1 reported that the man “wearing a red hooded jacket and gray sock cap” who was “using a rolled up Trump flag to attempt to break the glass on an interior door … to the left of Ashli Babbit[t]” was “a family member” whom he had talked to the night of the incident.
According to authorities, the relative claimed to tell Jones to contact the FBI or an attorney. A second witness, who said he was a friend of Jones, recognized the defendant in footage breaking the window. From the affidavit:
W-2 stated that JONES called him on Thursday, January 7, 2021, and said that JONES was in trouble. JONES also admitted to W-2 that he broke a window and JONES called himself an idiot. JONES also told W-2 that JONES had been in the middle of the crowd and was able to walk into the United States Capitol without any problem.
According to authorities, the Superintendent of the Capitol estimated repair cost of the damaged glass to be more than $1,000.
Jones is charged with one count each of assault on a federal officer, certain acts during a civil disorder, destruction of government property over $1,000, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
[Image via FBI]
