A Connecticut man was charged Tuesday in federal court with allegedly assaulting a police officer, whom he pinned between two doors, during a riot by Trump supporters on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, officials stated Wednesday.
Read the Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint Against Patrick Edward McCaughey III: Click Here: DOJ
Patrick Edward McCaughey III was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees; civil disorder; entering restricted building or grounds, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
McCaughey III repeatedly told Capitol Police Officer Daniel Hodges “just go a home,” and “come on man, you are going to get squished,” as he pinned Hodges between a riot shield that McCaughey was holding and two doors during the Jan. 6 melee.
“It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection and we’ll do it as many times as it takes,” Hodges later told reporters.
“The vicious attack on Officer Hodges was abhorrent and quintessential
ly un-American,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin. “It is my pledge that anyone involved in violent attacks on law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. McCaughey’s alleged actions were an assault on Officer Hodges, the Capitol, and the rule of law itself.”
“Even after days of seeing so many shocking and horrific scenes from the siege on the U.S. Capitol, the savage beating of D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Hodges stands out for the perpetrator’s blatant disregard for human life,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Patrick McCaughey’s actions were violent, barbaric, and completely out of control.”
According to charging documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, a video posted to YouTube captured a large group of rioters attempting to break through the line of uniformed law enforcement officers who were in place to prevent rioters from entering the lower west terrace door of the U.S. Capitol.
In the front line of rioters, an individual, who has subsequently been identified as McCaughey can be seen using a clear police riot shield to physically push against the left side of an officer’s body.
The officer was pinned between the clear police riot shield being held by McCaughey and the lower west terrace door.
The officer appeared to be loudly crying out in pain. As the officer was being pinned to the door by McCaughey, a separate rioter was violently ripping off the officer’s gas mask, exposing the officer’s bloodied mouth.
As McCaughey was using the riot shield to push against the officer, numerous other rioters behind and around McCaughey appeared to add to the weight against the officer.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.