This article, originally published Sept. 20 at 2:56 p.m., was updated Sept. 20 at 5:27 p.m. to add Cook’s attorney information.
A 24-year-old Bethesda man was arrested Saturday and charged with assaulting law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Steven Patrick Cook is charged with two felony offenses of “assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder,” according to court documents filed on Aug. 10 by the FBI.
Cook is also charged with numerous misdemeanors, including multiple charges related to entering a restricted building or grounds and engaging in violent conduct on such grounds.
Cook’s attorney, Alexis Gardner, was unable to be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
“His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C in the release.
Congress was working to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory when rioters breached the Capitol after attending former President Donald Trump’s speech at a rally earlier in the day.
“Hundreds and hundreds of people were entering the Capitol with Confederate battle flags, chanting, ‘We want Trump’ and ‘Hang Mike Pence,’ and they’d come in without going through the metal detectors, they’d come in without any security screening at all,” said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 8) in a previous interview with MoCo360.
“Only authorized people with appropriate identification were allowed access inside the U.S. Capitol. On January 6, 2021, the exterior plaza of the U.S. Capitol was also closed to members of the public,” according to court documents.
Cook was identified in the crowd of rioters on the West Plaza of the Capitol in body-worn camera footage and open-source videos and photos, including ones that he posted on his social media accounts, according to court documents.
At 2:28 p.m. on Jan. 6, Cook allegedly followed behind a trio who linked arms and marched into officers on the West Plaza, breaking the police line, court documents indicate.
Cook allegedly began hitting, pushing and punching police officers, and taking one’s baton, according to court documents.
Officers then retreated into the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, and Cook, along with a crowd of rioters, chased them into the tunnel, court documents alleged.
According to court documents, Cook was seen on video footage near the tunnel’s entrance at 2:43 p.m. He allegedly left the tunnel at 2:52 p.m. and then returned at 3:02 p.m. When he returned, Cook took a gas mask from one of the other rioters, court documents alleged.
In the tunnel, Cook “bull-rushed the police line head-first,” according to court documents. He exited the tunnel again at 3:05 p.m., returning at 3:55 p.m., court documents alleged.
The court documents were signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey, who works in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Cook was arrested Saturday in Virginia and made his first court appearance Monday in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. said in a news release.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, according to the news release.
The FBI’s Baltimore and Washington Field offices, along with assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department, investigated the case, according to the news release.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C., “in the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office urges anyone with tips to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
