FBI arrests El Paso man accused of assaulting police during Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
·3 min read
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The FBI on Wednesday arrested an El Paso man accused of assaulting a police officer during the U.S. Capitol attack by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.

FBI agents arrested David Rene Arredondo, 47, at a home in the 1200 block of Morgan Marie Street in the far East Side, officials said Thursday. He is being held without bond at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.

Arredondo is accused being part of a pro-Donald Trump mob that stormed into the Capitol, seeking to halt the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.

Arredondo was charged in Washington, D.C., on felony charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder, as well as misdemeanor charges.

Arredondo is accused of illegally entering the Capitol grounds and grabbing and pulling the arm of a police officer who was attempting to stop the mob from entering the Capitol doors, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Federal investigators allegedly identified Arredondo as a man seen in video recordings during the assault at the Capitol, according to a federal criminal complaint.

The complaint document states: "In the video, DAVID ARREDONDO can be seen grabbing the arm of a police officer who was surrounded by a mob of rioters. A different police officer can be seen being pulled away by the mob and falling to the ground. DAVID ARREDONDO can be seen grabbing the arm of the other police officer who is trying to keep a door to the Capitol shut, and attempting to pull the officer away from the door in an apparent effort to facilitate the entry of other rioters into the Capitol."

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The man identified as Arredondo is wearing a red Trump-style cap, sunglasses and a gaiter during the assault but his face, including a salt-and-pepper beard, is visible in another security camera image included in the document.

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that video evidence allegedly shows that Arredondo entered the Capitol Building through the East Rotunda Doors and remained inside for nearly 40 minutes.

Capitol police officers in riot gear push back demonstrators trying to break a door of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Capitol police officers in riot gear push back demonstrators trying to break a door of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

A multi-agency task force investigation of the Capitol attack allegedly found that Arredondo and two relatives traveled together on Southwest Airlines from El Paso to Washington on Jan. 4 and returned Jan. 8, according to the complaint. Records show they stayed at the Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington.

A search warrant found geolocation information showing that a cellphone linked to Arredondo was present at the U.S. Capitol during the time of the riot, the document adds.

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A witness as well as surveillance and comparisons to photos on social media allegedly matched Arredondo with photos of the rioter who grabbed the police officer, the complaint states.

The case was investigated by the FBI in El Paso and the West Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force with help from the FBI in Washington and the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 880 people have been arrested in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol, including more than 270 suspects charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the Department of Justice stated.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso man accused of assaulting police during Jan. 6 Capitol attack