An aspiring Texas actor, who said he was almost “gassed like … a Jew” during the Capitol insurrection, was accused of using a crutch to hit a policeman in the January 6 riot.
Luke Coffee, a 41-year-old man from Dallas, has been charged with a series of crimes, including assaulting a federal police officer with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In a recently opened criminal complaint, prosecutors said that Coffee is seen in photos and videos using a crutch to assault DC police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol.
Before gaining notoriety for breaking into Capitol, Coffee worked in post-production on two prime-time television shows, including Everwood, according to its IMDB page. Returning to Dallas in 2010 after stints in Hollywood and Cape Town, Coffee established a production company under the aegis of a company owned by his mentor, director Rocky Powell, according to his website. He directed a documentary, a TV pilot and continued acting, with appearances on NBC’s Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas.
But his social media shows his affinity for former President Donald Trump and his belief in conspiracy theories, including QAnon and how hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19. The day before the riots, Coffee said in a YouTube video, “Hell is going to explode tomorrow”, before mentioning former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. “Leave the baby Q storm,” he added.
According to the Dallas Central Track news site, Coffee also documented his trip to the Capitol. On the morning of the riots, Coffee – which prosecutors say was wearing a brown cowboy hat, camouflage jacket and blue bandana – posted a photo next to another rowdy. Behind them, hundreds of demonstrators with MAGA flags can be seen.
“Historic day for ‘Merica !!” Coffee posted the photo caption on Facebook.
The complaint states that, during the disturbances, coffee is seen in videos on the steps of the Capitol, near the entrance to the Lower Terrace tunnel. He is seen turning to the sea of rioters trying to break into the building and making “several statements”, although it is unclear what he said.
The group of protesters in the Lower Entrance tunnel, which included Café, violently attacked the police with blunt objects and threw items at the police, the complaint said. A DC police officer was “violently dragged down the steps of the Lower Terrace by protesters”.
Coffee was seen holding a crutch over his head before lowering it to his waist and running to the DC and Capitol police line, the complaint said.
Camera footage shows that, after Coffee was forced to retreat, he attacked the police again, using his crutch “as a blunt weapon, positioning the crutch directly toward the top of the officer ‘s chest / head” It took about two DC cops to contain Coffee and his makeshift weapon.
Prosecutors add that the video shows the crutch being passed on to several uprisings, which used it to attack police officers.
The FBI was informed to Coffee by several witnesses, including a “college colleague who happens to be a special agent,” says the complaint. A witness, who said he met Coffee in mid-2020, said that they recognized him because he was wearing “clothes that stood out”. The witness also added that Coffee appeared in a YouTube video last October, in which “he discussed various conspiracy theories”.
During an interview on January 13 with federal authorities, Coffee admitted that he drove to DC from Dallas in a truck and was on Capitol Hill on January 6. Although he acknowledged that he “held a crutch over his head” outside the building, “Coffee said he was not involved in any kind of physical confrontation with the police while on Capitol Hill,” says the complaint.
After the disturbances, Coffee appeared on several YouTube videos, where he continued his speeches on other conspiracy theories, including questioning the validity of the moon landing and venturing to the flat Earth and reptilian beliefs. In a deleted Facebook video, he admitted to pushing the police with a crutch.
“I was ready to die last night … And I literally thought I was dying from gas like I was in Nazi Germany.“
– Luke Coffee
“Those cops I fought, uh, I was pushing, I grabbed a crutch. And I went in and pushed the line. I pushed everyone against the line and was, like, trying to get them back, and God gave me some supernatural energy, and they splashed in my eyes, ”said Coffee in the Facebook video, according to Central Track.
Describing the violence as an “anti-fake flag attack,” Coffee added that he was “ready to die” with “patriots” exercising their right to freedom of expression.
“I was ready to die last night. We thought we were, we were totally poisoned. And I literally thought I was dying from gas as if I were in Nazi Germany, a Jew dying from gas. Okay, ”he said.
Daniel Caldwell, a 50-year-old Texan, was also charged on Friday with assaulting and “fogging police officers” who were trying to protect Capitol steps on January 6.
Caldwell, who is seen in photos and videos in a camouflage suit and a sweatshirt that says “Guns SAVE Lives”, was interviewed at a hotel in DC after the riot. He admitted to being on the Capitol when a fight broke out and a “woman was hit in the neck,” he said, according to a newly opened complaint.
“According to Caldwell, the fight then started ‘they caught the guys’ and someone caught her (referring to the woman who was hit) and left,” says the complaint. “Caldwell said that the individuals remained in the area and the police were spreading mace against him. Caldwell said he told them that if they continued, he would return the spray. ”
Caldwell then said in the interview that “once the police sprayed him”, he retaliated and sprayed about 15 police officers. “Caldwell said that the police then shot him with a large cannon with rubber bullets,” adds the complaint.
The complaint says the FBI received many tips about Caldwell, including from a witness who said he was involved with the 50-year-old man in an Airsoft Military Simulation – or MilSim. The game is described as “a live, in-person simulation of armed conflict scenarios conducted by civilians that involve airsoft plastic projectiles launched by replica weapons, but do not involve real firearms.”
The witness told the FBI that he met Caldwell while playing MilSim about three years ago, and described him as a “great white supremacist” and “a complete nutcase”.
During the game, the witness said, Caldwell “brought a real firearm to the field and had to be corrected on several occasions to return the gun to his vehicle,” says the complaint.