/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/QOLUUVCXUPUUEBDOOKLFYLVWVM.jpg "Dallas actor accused of assaulting Capitol Police with crutch during insurrection")
A Dallas actor who allegedly used a crutch to assault police officers during the January uprising and the siege of the United States Capitol was arrested and charged in federal court, officials said on Friday.
Luke Russell Coffee, 41, was captured on video and in photos attacking police officers with a single crutch during the January 6 riot, according to an FBI statement.
A Baylor graduate, Coffee said in an online biography that he moved to Hollywood after college to pursue a career in film. He said he worked on two prime-time television shows for Warner Brothers and NBC / Universal. Coffee said he returned to Dallas, his hometown, in 2010 to open a production company.
Coffee, who studied at Highland Park High School, is at least the 13th north of Texas to face riot-related charges.
He was accused of assaulting a federal policeman with a dangerous weapon, interfering with a policeman during civil unrest, obstructing an official process, illegal entry into restricted areas, and disorderly conduct in Capitol areas.
Coffee’s lawyer was not reached on Friday for comment.
Helping to identify Coffee was a college colleague who is an FBI agent, officials say. The US prosecutor’s office filed a motion to detain Coffee pending trial. A detention hearing is scheduled for March 8.
The FBI received several tips on Coffee, and a witness reported seeing a video on social media in which Coffee discussed various conspiracy theories, says a deposition.
A Dallas FBI agent following a tip called Coffee on January 13. Coffee acknowledged that he was at the Capitol on the day of the riot and holding a crutch, but denied being involved in any physical confrontation with the police, according to the sworn statement.
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He said he drove from Dallas to Washington in a truck on January 4 and arrived the next day, according to the FBI.
The FBI agent who went to college with Coffee saw his former classmate’s social media posts showing him on Capitol Hill on January 6, before the posts were “blocked for public viewing,” the statement says.
The man the authorities say is Coffee is seen wearing a cowboy hat, a camouflage jacket, a bandana and a gray backpack. Shortly after 4 pm, he was on the steps of the Capitol’s lower terrace entrance, the FBI said.
He turned to the crowd and “appeared to be making several statements, none of which was audible,” according to the FBI.
He then joined violent protesters fighting with the Capitol Police and Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police officers who were defending the building in the lower terrace tunnel area, the FBI said. While trying to prevent protesters from entering the building, police officers were hit by several thrown objects and many were injured, officials said.
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The coffee is seen on camera images of the policeman’s body making contact with the police at about 4:30 pm and pushing his crutch into a line of police officers, the statement says.
“After being forced to retreat by the police, Coffee attacked the police while still holding his crutch,” says the statement. “It seems … that Coffee intended to use the crutch further as a blunt object weapon.”
The cops had to restrain him, says the FBI.
Coffee said on his website that he produced and directed music videos, web-based content and commercials. His website also said that he co-starred in the NBC show Friday Night Lights and had a “lead role” in a Ridley Scott movie called The hunt.