Man Charged With Pushing a Capitol Police Officer Over a Ledge on Jan. 6

A New York man was arrested on Wednesday and charged with shoving a Capitol Police officer over a ledge on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters disrupted Congress because it was certifying the 2020 election outcomes, prosecutors mentioned.

The F.B.I. mentioned that it had recognized the person, Ralph Joseph Celentano III of Broad Channel, Queens, from a photograph on Fb and Instagram that confirmed him attending a fund-raiser for a sea turtle basis in March 2018.

Witnesses recognized him in a gaggle of about 20 folks within the picture and advised investigators that Mr. Celentano had attended the fund-raiser for the Jenny Albert Sea Turtle Basis along with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, courtroom paperwork mentioned.

Mr. Celentano, 54, was arrested in Broad Channel and charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; civil dysfunction; participating in bodily violence in a restricted constructing or grounds; and associated offenses, prosecutors mentioned.

After an preliminary look in U.S. District Court docket for the Japanese District of New York, he was launched on a $50,000 bond and ordered to avoid Washington until he’s going to courtroom, a spokesman for the U.S. lawyer’s workplace for the Japanese District of New York mentioned.

Mr. Celentanto’s lawyer, Marissa Sherman, declined to touch upon the costs on Thursday.

Greater than 775 folks have been arrested in reference to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, on expenses that vary from trespassing to seditious conspiracy. Greater than 200 have pleaded responsible.

On Tuesday, a federal jury convicted the primary individual accused within the riot to go on trial, discovering Man Wesley Reffitt, an oil-field employee from Wylie, Texas, responsible on 5 counts, together with coming into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds with a firearm.

On Jan. 6, 2021, safety cameras and movies captured photos of Mr. Celentano collaborating within the riot, with longer hair, a two-toned jacket, a flag and a folding chair affixed to his backpack that made him “distinctive within the crowd,” courtroom papers mentioned.

One video confirmed him on the west terrace of the Capitol, the place he approached a uniformed Capitol Police officer from behind and pushed the officer, inflicting him to fall over a ledge onto a terrace under, courtroom papers mentioned.

The officer, who was recognized in courtroom papers solely as Okay.E., later recalled being “blindsided” from behind in a “football-type deal with,” prosecutors mentioned. The officer mentioned that after he fell, his principal concern was standing up so he wouldn’t be “stomped on.”

An Iraq Warfare veteran, he recalled pondering, “I didn’t survive a conflict to exit like this,” prosecutors mentioned.

The officer advised investigators that he was in all probability injured throughout the fall, however that he had “a lot adrenaline at the moment that he couldn’t ensure,” courtroom papers mentioned. Though he discovered bumps and bruises on his physique, he didn’t search medical consideration.

Physique-camera movies from the Metropolitan Police Division of Washington confirmed Mr. Celentano participating in a number of different “bodily altercations” with officers on the grounds of the Capitol, courtroom papers mentioned.

In an effort to determine the one who had shoved the officer, the F.B.I. launched a photograph from the riot.

The bureau mentioned it then acquired data that helped investigators determine the person who was in that picture as the identical man who was in a photograph on Instagram and Fb taken on the fund-raiser for the ocean turtle basis on March 31, 2018, in Broad Channel.

Investigators then collected E-ZPass data and New York license plate reader knowledge from Mr. Celentano’s feminine companion, which confirmed that her automobile had left Broad Channel at about 3 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and returned the following night at about 7:30 p.m., prosecutors mentioned.