Two Montana brothers who were reportedly among a crowd seen in a viral video being taken by a police officer from an open door to Senate chambers during the Capitol rebellion earlier this month are now facing charges, court documents say.
Joshua and Jerod Hughes are accused of committing nine crimes each on January 6, ranging from entering a restricted building without authorization to destroying property, according to a criminal complaint filed late Thursday afternoon in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
“While on the Senate floor, Joshua Calvin Hughes, Jerod Wade Hughes and other protesters sat in the senators ‘seats, opened the senators’ tables and reviewed the sensitive material stored there,” adds the complaint.
The Hughes brothers are seen here chasing Capitol Policeman Eugene Goodman, prosecutors say. (US District Court for the District of Columbia)
DC MAYOR REJECTS PERMANENT FENCE CALLS IN CAPITOLA
Prosecutors said the two Hughes, who “believed they were wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation”, entered the Helena Police Department on January 11 to report their presence in the country’s capital after seeing themselves in the news coverage of the violent protests.
When a special FBI agent appeared to interview the two men, “they said they wanted to surrender and that a lawyer was present before answering questions,” the complaint said. The Hughes were then allowed to leave after providing their contact information.
The brothers helped other protesters to get into the United States Capitol building. prosecutors claim. (US District Court for the District of Columbia)
The complaint alleges that the Hughes were identified after a review of surveillance and social media images and were among a “group of protesters who broke windows and doors and forced entry into the United States Capitol building.”
“Once inside the Capitol, Jerod Wade Hughes, both alone and with another hooligan, kicked a door until the lock broke so that other hooligans could enter the United States Capitol,” says the complaint.
Both men were later seen in the US Senate floor, according to prosecutors. (US District Court for the District of Columbia)
The complaint says the men then allegedly got involved in the “confrontation with Capitol Policeman Eugene Goodman”, who was greeted after being seen in a viral video that led the crowd away from a door that led to the Senate floor – which at the time it had not been evacuated.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“Realizing that he could not prevent the crowd from invading the Senate floor on his own, Officer Goodman urged protesters to continue to follow him – luring them away from the Senate floor and into an adjacent corridor,” he adds.
The Hughes later allegedly managed to enter the Senate Chamber after their evacuation, according to the complaint.