Mississippi man arrested for allegedly assaulting police during Capitol riot

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JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi man was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed on Wednesday.

Michael Leon Brock, 54, faces several federal charges including assaulting an officer and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder.

Brock made his initial court appearance in Mississippi Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors allege that Brock was present on the upper west terrace of the U.S. Capitol around 4 p.m. local time on Jan. 6 and was later allegedly depicted in body-cam footage presented by local police.

The footage allegedly shows Brock attacking Capitol Police officers and striking them with what appears to be a four-foot-long rod striking and pushing nearby officers.

The case is currently being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and FBI Jackson Field Office’s Southaven Resident Agency, who identified Brock in various photos and surveillance footage.

Brock is among 535 individuals who have been arrested from nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol riot which resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.

A Tampa man who breached the U.S. Senate chamber on that day carrying a Trump campaign flag was sentenced Monday to eight months behind bars, the first resolution for a felony case in the Capitol insurrection.

Paul Allard Hodgkins apologized and said he was ashamed of his actions on Jan 6. Speaking calmly from a prepared text, he described being caught up in the euphoria as he walked down Washington's most famous avenue, then followed a crowd of hundreds into the Capitol.

"If I had any idea that the protest ... would escalate (the way) it did ... I would never have ventured farther than the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue," Hodgkins told the judge. He added: "This was a foolish decision on my part."

Video footage shows Hodgkins wearing a Trump 2020 T-shirt, the flag flung over his shoulder and eye goggles around his neck, inside the Senate. He took a selfie with a self-described shaman in a horned helmet and other rioters on the dais behind him.

The sentencing could set the bar for punishments of hundreds of other defendants as they decide whether to accept plea deals or go to trial. Hodgkins and others are accused of serious crimes but were not indicted, as some others were, for roles in larger conspiracies.