Michigan Residents Arrested on Charges For Actions During January 6 Capitol Breach (original) (raw)

One Defendant Swung a Flagpole at Police While the Other Recorded It

WASHINGTON — Two Michigan residents were arrested on charges, unsealed today, stemming from their actions during the breach of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Their actions, and the actions of others, disrupted a joint session of the United States Congress when Congress convened to certify the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Isaac Thomas, 20, of Flint, Michigan, was arrested on January 26, 2022 in Flint, Michigan on the felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority to do so while carrying or using a deadly or dangerous weapon, engaging in disruptive conduct while using or carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon, knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence while carrying or using a deadly or dangerous weapon; and the misdemeanor offenses of engaging in an act of physical violence on the Capitol grounds, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct within the Capitol Building, and parading, demonstrating, and picketing in the Capitol Building.

Christina Legros, 22, of Beaverton, Michigan, was arrested yesterday in Flint, Michigan, on the misdemeanor charges of entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority to do so, engaging in disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, engaged in disorderly or disruptive conduct within the Capitol Building, and parading or demonstrating in the Capitol Building.

According to court documents, the two defendants were among a mob that illegally engaged in a physical confrontation with law enforcement officers on the west front of the United States Capitol. Isaac Thomas used a flagpole on fully uniformed police officers during that confrontation, with the interaction captured on Christina Legros’s phone. Eight minutes after Thomas swung the flagpole at the first officer, at another confrontation with police Thomas struck an officer with the United States Capitol Police to help the mob move up the steps to the upper west terrace.

Both defendants entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door and paraded to the House side of the Capitol until returning to the central room known as the Crypt, where they ascended to the second floor. Once at the second floor, the two entered a suite of offices designated for the Speaker of the House where Thomas recorded a video message on his cell phone: “. . . The United States of America thinks we were playing . . . Do not let them take our country. Mike Pence failed us today. Ya’ll better take your country back. Take your freedom back for the sake of your families and your children!”

Both defendants then moved to a lobby outside the Old Senate Chamber where Thomas again clashed with officers who were attempting to keep rioters away from the Senate Chamber. During this clash, the defendants were separated and left the Capitol building separately.

These cases are being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

These cases are being investigated by the FBI’s Detroit Field Office – Flint Resident Agency, and the Washington Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 24 months since January 6, 2021, more than 950 individuals have been arrested from nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the United States Capitol, including over 284 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.