Another Kentucky man, among first believed to have entered Capitol, charged in Jan. 6 riot

More than 21 months after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, another Kentucky man has been charged.

In a release published Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Joseph Howe, a Magnolia resident, was arrested in Elizabethtown and would face charges that include assaulting law enforcement officers. He was set to make his first appearance in federal court Friday afternoon.

In charging documents, according to the DOJ, Howe, 40, is accused of entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after attending then-President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, D.C. to protest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election as members of Congress were meeting to certify its results.

The DOJ said Howe was shown on camera stating "We're getting into that building" as he approached the Capitol building with other rally attendees and illegally entered the property, where he is accused of joining a "mob of rioters confronting law enforcement officers," at one point wielding a baton similar to those used by police as the group worked to break through the line of officers protecting the property.

Related:US Capitol riot arrests: What we know about the Kentucky people charged

Eventually, the DOJ document alleges, Howe ran toward the Capitol building, pushing an officer with Capitol Police at one point before being "among the first rioters to reach the Upper West Terrace and Senate Wing Door." He is accused of kicking the door and entering the building at about 2:13 p.m., then moving through the building and "verbally engaged" with officers and pushing through a police line. The document said he left the building at 2:38 p.m.

Howe was wearing a "body armor-style vest" under his jacket at the time, according to the DOJ release, and was also shown at one point wearing eye goggles and a gas mask.

Howe was first interviewed by the FBI in April 2021, according to a charging document, after multiple witnesses said he'd spoken of plans to travel to the rally with Michael Sparks, a coworker who was also later charged over what took place at the Capitol and is believed to have been the first person to enter the building during the riot. At the time of that interview, according to the document, Howe acknowledged he'd been in attendance at the rally but denied entering the building.

Video footage later reviewed by the FBI in July 2022, according to the charging document, showed Howe "kicking the Senate Wing Door of the building, at nearly the exact time the building was first breached by rioters and nearly the exact time Sparks became the first rioter to enter." He was then shown inside the building in multiple photos and videos, the document states.

From USA TODAY:Timeline: How the storming of the U.S. Capitol unfolded on Jan. 6

Earlier this week, Howe was interviewed again by the FBI, according to the charging document, at which point he acknowledged photos that showed him inside the Capitol during the riot were accurate and that he "terminated the interview after noting, in essence, I know I’m in trouble here and I know where this is going." The DOJ announced his arrest four days later.

Howe is facing a host of charges over the incident, including: obstruction of an official proceeding; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; civil disorder; destruction of government property; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; multiple counts of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings.

Howe's case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the DOJ National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, according to the release, with assistance during the investigation from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky. The FBI's offices in Louisville and in Washington, D.C. are investigating as well.

Howe is among more than 880 people nationally who have been arrested and charged over what took place that day, and is among more than 270 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. At least 20 Kentucky residents have been charged, along with a West Virginia resident who attended the University of Kentucky at the time of the riot.

This story may be updated.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Joseph Howe of Kentucky charged over Jan. 6 riot at US Capitol