US judge Andrew Krause ordered Patrick McCaughey to be detained in federal custody, with the judge calling the video of the widely shared incident “extraordinarily disturbing.”
McCaughey, 23, was arrested on Tuesday on charges, including assault linked to his alleged role in the disturbances.
Prosecutors say McCaughey beat Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges with a transparent police shield while Hodges struggled to prevent a crowd of protesters from invading the Capitol.
McCaughey and the crowd advanced to gain access to the building, crushing Hodges, court documents say.
In the viral video of the incident, Hodges screams in pain as he gets stuck in a door.
“Don’t try to use that baton on me, boy,” McCaughey is heard saying, probably referring to the policeman’s baton, according to federal prosecutors.
“You see me. Go home. Talk to your friends and go home. … Don’t try to use this stick on me. I’m not hurting you.”
While Hodges continues to scream in pain from the footage, McCaughey can later be heard saying that the policeman should be let go and acknowledging that he was injured, according to the complaint statement.
McCaughey reportedly struck more uniformed officers with the shield after Hodges broke free, the court document said.
In an interview with CNN, Hodges called the protesters “true believers in the worst way”.
“Some of them felt that we would be friends quickly because many of them have been talking,” Hodges told CNN.
“They say things like, ‘Yes, we have supported you in all these Black Lives Matter things, you must support us’, and they felt right,” said Hodges.
A childhood friend positively identified McCaughey to federal investigators, according to court documents.
McCaughey was accused of assaulting, resisting or preventing certain officers or employees; civil disorder; entering restricted buildings or land; and violent entry or disorderly conduct, according to the District of Columbia Public Prosecutor.
It is his first encounter with the law and, if convicted, McCaughey could face at least five years in prison, a prosecutor told the judge on Wednesday.
“Even after days of seeing so many shocking and horrific scenes from the siege of the United States Capitol, the savage beatings of the DC Hodges metropolitan policeman stand out for the perpetrator’s blatant disregard for human life,” Steven D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office said in a press release. “Patrick McCaughey’s actions were violent, barbaric and completely out of control.”
Mccaughey, who was represented by a public defender at Wednesday’s hearing, will be removed from the Southern District of New York and will appear in the federal district court for the District of Columbia, prosecutors said.
CNN’s Mark Morales contributed to this report.