NORFOLK, Va. -- A Virginia man has been charged with assaulting law enforcement officers during the attack on the U.S. Capitol last month.
FBI agents arrested Jonathan Gennaro Mellis, 34, at his home in Williamsburg, Virginia, on Tuesday, FBI spokeswoman Christina Pullen told The Virginian-Pilot.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Mellis, also known as Jon Gennaro, to be detained in jail until a remote court hearing on Friday.
In a court filing, an FBI agent said video footage from a police body camera showed Mellis and others people using using sticks and other items as weapons to assault officers who were protecting the Capitol building. Mellis can be heard saying, “Knock their masks off,” before swinging a stick at officers, the agent said.
After the siege, Mellis posted on his Facebook page about “storming the castle,” the court filing said.
“We want a forensic audit of the vote. Simple,” the post said. “We will not go away. We will not surrender.”
Mellis is one of more than 220 people who has been charged in federal court with offenses related to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
