A Rhode Island man has been arrested for his alleged role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Juan Rodriguez of Central Falls was arrested Thursday, the FBI Boston Division said, adding that he was the 27th person it had taken into custody in the insurrection.
Federal prosecutors allege that Rodriguez was a part of the mob that forced itself into the Capitol in an effort to stop Congress from certifying the election of President Joe Biden.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an arrest warrant for Rodriguez, whom it identified as a man wearing a Batman hat in video inside the Capitol.
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Capitol Police officers found Rodriguez; Alexander Fan of Houston, Texas; and a third man locked inside an office around 4 p.m. that day, prosecutors said. The office's windows had previously been partially broken by Hunter Ehmke, a California man who was convicted last year; none of the glass remained when the men were inside.
The men inside the office eventually opened the door and were led out by officers, prosecutors said.
Minutes later, Rodriguez returned to the broken office window to ask Capitol Police officers for his phone, which he had left charging in the office, according to authorities. They handed it back to him.
Later, when authorities were investigating the Capitol attack, they determined a mobile device associated with Rodriguez's email was pinged within a restricted part of the building.
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He admitted to being in Washington to attend then-President Donald Trump's rally, prosecutors said.
Charges against Rodriguez include entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Fan, named in the same criminal complaint, was also arrested by the FBI Houston Division, according to the Boston office.
It was not immediately clear if Rodriguez or Fan had an attorney who could answer to the charges.
