Charges have been filed against a Rhode Island man accused of attacking police with what appeared to be a broken wooden table leg during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced Tuesday.
Timothy Desjardins, 35, of Providence, Rhode Island, was charged with six counts, including assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; and engaging in violence in a restricted building or grounds, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.
He allegedly attacked several officers near the doorway to the Lower West Terrace known as the "tunnel," using what appeared to be a table leg like a club, according to court documents.
At the time police, some of whom had riot shields, were trying to guard the entrance and were being attacked with hurled objects, including someone who threw a table at them, according to the complaint.
Online federal court records did not show an attorney for Desjardins on Tuesday. He is in custody in Rhode Island on an unrelated case, federal prosecutors said.
A day after the riot, a bag Desjardins was seen wearing was found by police. It contained his ID, three axes and two walkie talkies, according to court documents. There are no allegations he used the axes in the riot. Photos in the documents show what appear to be small hatchets.
Desjardins is one of more than 670 people arrested in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to the Justice Department.
The attack by a pro-Trump mob came as Congress was formally counting the electoral votes affirming that President Joe Biden had defeated President Donald Trump to win the election.
Over 210 have been charged with assaulting or impeding police, the department said.
