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An active-duty Marine, Major Christopher Warnagiris, has been charged with assaulting police officers at the Jan 6 Capitol riots.
Warnagiris, who is stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico, was arrested this week in Virginia and charged with crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
He is charged with federal offenses that include assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; and obstruction of justice, among other charges.
According to court documents and security camera footage, the active-duty marine violently entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 after pushing through a line of police officers guarding the East Rotunda doors.
Once inside, Warnagiris positioned himself in the corner of the doorway, using his body to keep the door open and pull others inside. When a U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officer tried to pull the doors shut, Warnagiris refused and continued pushing it open.
Warnagiris can be seen pushing the officer in an effort to maintain his position in the open door in security camera footage.
More than 400 people have been charged so far in connection with the Capitol breach, including around 40 military veterans as well as a handful of guard members and reservists. Warnagiris is the first active-duty officer to be charged, the Pentagon confirmed.
