A New York man arrested on Friday for assaulting a DC metropolitan police officer during the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol confessed to the FBI that he buried the policeman’s badge in his backyard after he returned home.
Thomas Sibick was arrested on Friday in Buffalo, New York, according to court records. Sibick faces five charges, including obstructing law enforcement during civil unrest, assaulting or impeding police officers and taking something of value by force or intimidation.
Sibick was caught on video attacking MPD policeman Mike Fanone, who was attacked and attacked by protesters, who dragged him into the crowd while trying to enter the Capitol. HuffPost previously reported on the identity of a man with a MAGA hat seen using a taser on Fanone during the attack.
MPD previously told HuffPost that there were no arrests in the attack on Fanone, and Sibick’s arrest appears to be the first.
The camera footage of Fanone’s body shows his police radio and the badge being ripped from his vest by Sibick, according to the statement. After the rebellion, Sibick posted images of himself holding a US Capitol Police shield and trying to enter the building with the crowd.
FBI agents interviewed Sibick for the first time on January 27, and he acknowledged being in DC on the day of the Capitol uprising. He told agents that he heard someone say “get [Fanone’s] shoot and kill him, ”but said he was trying to help the police. In early February, Sibick again denied having participated in the attack. But in late February, he said he needed to “retract” his earlier statement and admitted to grabbing the official’s badge and radio. He said he threw them in a trash can in DC, but then called an agent and said he “wanted to do the right thing”.
Sibick, says the FBI statement, said he “buried the badge in his backyard”, bought a metal detector to find it, dug it up and wanted to return it.
FBI Thomas Sibick, the FBI said, buried a police badge he stole during the Capitol rebellion in his backyard.
“Later that night, SIBICK found the agent and gave him a bag containing mud and the MF officer badge,” the statement said.
A federal judge in New York ordered Sibick to be released, but on Friday, the government filed an emergency appeal asking a DC judge to order him back in government custody. Sibick, the government said, “participated in a violent rebellion and robbed a police officer” on January 6 and was due to be arrested because he was charged with a crime involving a crime of violence.
Read the statement below.
I appeal to all HuffPost superfans!
Sign up as a member to become a founding member and help shape the next chapter of HuffPost