Lakeville man’s high school classmate tipped off FBI to ‘selfie’ he posted in U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, federal charges say

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
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The day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the FBI got a tip from a high school classmate of a now-43-year-old Lakeville man.

The tipster said Martin James Cudo posted a “selfie” from the Capitol on his social media, and the FBI also received information from someone at Cudo’s workplace who identified him in photographs as participating in the Capitol riots, according to federal charges unsealed against him Monday.

Cudo was arrested in Lakeville on Monday.

FBI agents had interviewed Cudo in Apple Valley on Jan. 13, 2021, and showed him a photo that appeared to show Cudo inside the Capitol and Cudo confirmed it was him, according to the criminal complaint. Cudo said he was the person wearing a red, white and blue hat with “45” in a circle in the middle. Donald Trump was the 45th president.

Cudo told agents he flew to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4, 2021, with his mother and stepfather to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021. He said after he parted ways with his family, he walked with the crowd to the Capitol.

He “acknowledged the presence of barricades near the Capitol as he approached but stated that it appeared law enforcement ‘moved out of the way'” and he “proceeded with the crowd, past barricades, onto Capitol grounds,” the complaint said.

Open-source footage showed Cudo standing on what appeared to be a metal pole supporting light and sound equipment for the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Cudo said in his interview with the FBI that he saw someone break fire door windows near the Parliamentarian’s Office and, once the person opened the door, he made his way up the steps and inside the Capitol.

CCTV footage showed Cudo enter various offices adjacent to the fire door. An one point, Cudo pulled down his face covering and took a “selfie” in a corridor of the Senate wing. He tried to continue “up the hallway where police were preventing further movement,” the complaint said.

Cudo went past broken glass and into the Parliamentarian’s Office for about one minute before police told him to leave. He appeared on CCTV footage exiting with his hand raised. He was in the Capitol for nine minutes, the complaint said.

Cudo told the FBI he’d made comments to law enforcement at the Capitol but hadn’t become physical with them. After a police line moved the crowd, Cudo was seen “in footage depicting hectic scenes where police deployed what appear to be ‘flash bangs’ to disperse the crowd,” the complaint said.

Cudo said he left the Capitol grounds about an hour later, returned to his hotel room and “realized the trouble he may be in,” according to the complaint of what he told the FBI.

He was federally charged last Wednesday with entering a restricted building with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business. An attorney wasn’t listed for him in the court file as of Tuesday.

The Supreme Court said last week it will hear an appeal that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including against former President Donald Trump. The justices will review a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding that has been brought against more than 300 people. The charge refers to the disruption of Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump.

About 1,200 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the riot that left dozens of police officers injured.

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