Pennsylvania man Michael John Lopatic assaulted policeman and stole another’s body camera during riot on Capitol Hill, prosecutors say

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Court records show Lopatic, of Lancaster County, Pa., Is charged with assaulting a police officer, civil unrest, entering restricted grounds, physical violence on restricted grounds and disorderly conduct in a restrictive building.

The criminal complaint and FBI affidavit filed against Lopatic remain under seal, but a request for pre-trial detention sheds light on the government’s case against him.

More than 200 people now charged in connection with the riot on the Capitol

According to the motion, an officer from the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was attempting to save another officer from the rioters outside the Capitol when Lopatic “came out of the crowd, climbed on a handrail and charged “the officer.

Describing the assault, which was captured on police camera video, prosecutors say that Lopatic, “assaulted (the officer) by continuously hitting him on the head,” and that “at one point , the accused grabbed (the officer) head and appeared to hit him with an uppercut. “

Prosecutors, in a court document, identified the man in this police body camera screenshot as Michael John Lopatic of Lancaster County, Pa.

Prosecutors also said that after the alleged assault, Lopatic was seen stealing “the camera carried by the body of another MPD officer and later destroying it”. Stealing the bodycam, prosecutors said Lopatic must have pierced a “human shield” of “protesters trying to protect (the officer) from the violent crowd.”

Lopatic told FBI agents he stole the body camera and got rid of it on his way home after the riot, according to the motion.

In the months and weeks leading up to the riot, prosecutors also said Lopatic had issued “threatening messages about elected leaders in Washington.” Lopatic is said to have posted a number of photos of the birds he photographed while hunting, writing in captions he named them after Democratic politicians.

When they spotted a familiar face during the Capitol riots, they reported it to authorities

“I had a brace today,” Lopatic reportedly wrote, from a screenshot of the motion. “Two shots, two victims. Both headshots. I had a rooster and a hen. I called them Joe and Kamala.”

They also say he wrote on January 1, advocating for others to “ASSEMBLE ON THE CAPITAL ON JANUARY 6, 2021. UNITED WE ARE, LET’S MOVE FORWARD AND WE FIGHT.”

CNN contacted Lopatic’s attorney who declined to comment on the charges. Court records show that a federal judge granted the prosecutor’s request for Lopatic’s pre-trial detention.

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