Two New York state residents, Charles E. Schimmel and his son Logan Schimmel, were taken into custody on allegations of their involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot, facing several charges including a felony for obstructing law enforcement during the incident, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The charges against the Schimmels encompass a range of offenses like entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and parading on Capitol grounds.
The arrests were executed yesterday by the FBI, and the pair made their initial court appearance in the Western District of New York; open-source videos and court records detail the alleged extent of the Schimmels' participation, which includes fighting against police lines, climbing scaffolding, and being among the first to enter the Capitol building illegally after which they navigated through sensitive areas such as the Rotunda and the Speaker of the House's office suite, despite commands to vacate, they resisted police attempts at dispersal, leaning against police riot shields, until almost three hours after their exit from the building.
Documents presented in court allege the Schimmels were present at the "Stop the Steal" rally and participated in the assault on the Capitol, showing Charles Schimmel using a U.S. Capitol Police bicycle to hinder the officers' effort to manage the riotous crowd and both father and son pushing back against police, leading to their charges which are part of a broader investigation that has resulted in over 1,488 individuals being accused over the past 43 months in connection with the Capitol breach.
The Joint efforts from the FBI’s Buffalo and Washington Field Offices along with support from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department have contributed to the extensive investigations and subsequent prosecutions led by the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia; this collaborative work underscores the continuing response to the wide-scale lawlessness exhibited on January 6, 2021, which has led to nearly 550 individuals being charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a serious felony offense.
