Topline
Two New Yorkers — a district leader of the Queens County GOP and a former police officer — were arrested this week in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol as federal authorities continue a sprawling investigation into the insurrection that left five dead.
Key Facts
Philip Grillo, 46, was arrested Monday for alleged participation in the mob that stormed the Capitol as Congress attempted to certify votes for President Joe Biden, The Queens Daily Eagle first reported.
Grillo, who is listed as the leader of the 24th district in the Queens County Republican Party, was the latest local official to be accused of involvement with the pro-Trump insurrection.
Charges against him include entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct and obstruction of an official proceeding, according to an FBI statement of facts reviewed by Forbes.
A Facebook page for Grillo, which refers to him as “The Republican Messiah” from “President Trumps [sic] Hometown District,” includes a post with election misinformation promoted by the former president.
In a separate case, retired New York Police Department officer and former U.S. Marine Thomas Webster, 54, was accused of using an aluminum pipe to attack a Capitol police officer.
Webster faces charges of assaulting or resisting officers with a dangerous weapon, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, according to the Associated Press.
“We’re very sensitive to the passionate opinions on both sides of the Jan. 6 protest but we don’t have any specific comment,” James Monroe, an attorney for Webster, told Forbes.
Key Background
The arrests came as senators pressed Capitol security officials during a congressional hearing Tuesday about the response to the riot where a police officer and four others were killed. Current and former Republican officials from West Virginia, California and other states have been among the more than 250 suspects federal prosecutors have charged in a sprawling investigation of the riot. Dozens of Capitol Police officers who were at the riot have also been suspended or placed under investigation. Some suspects appear to have ties to the far-right organizations the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and QAnon.
Tangent
All but 10 Republican senators voted to acquit former President Donald Trump this month in an impeachment trial brought by Democrats who said he incited the insurrection.
What To Watch For
Grillo, whose attorney could not be reached for comment, made an initial appearance in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday. In White Plains federal court the same day, a judge ordered that Webster be held without bail.
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February 24, 2021 at 05:38AM
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Ex-NYPD Officer, Local Republican Leader Arrested In Capitol Riot Investigation - Forbes
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