Video shows the North Carolina man using a metal flagpole to hit and jab police officers as a crowd fought to force their way into the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, according to the Department of Justice.

Video from inside the Capitol shows the man walking through the building and around the rotunda, still carrying an American flag, according to an FBI affidavit. He fought with police again in the rotunda, the affidavit states.

Federal agents arrested 21-year-old Matthew Jason Beddingfield, of Middlesex, North Carolina, on Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Federal agents arrested Matthew Jason Beddingfield, 21, in Smithfield, North Carolina, on Tuesday

  • Beddingfield is accused of assaulting police with a metal flagpole during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol

  • The FBI has arrested more than 725 people in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, when pro-Trump supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the election of President Joe Biden

  • The Department of Justice has charged 17 others from North Carolina with crimes connected to the Jan. 6 attack

 

"At approximately 1:06 p.m., Beddingfield attacked the officers, jabbing at them with a metal flagpole he brought with him. Soon thereafter, he can be seen throwing a metal rod at law enforcement. He remained on the restricted grounds, moving about, before entering the Capitol at approximately 2:38 p.m. through a door on the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace," the Department of Justice said.

Once in the building, he found his way to the Great Rotunda, where more pro-Trump rioters were fighting with police, the FBI said. He again tried to hit police with the metal flagpolice, according to the FBI.

On Jan. 6, thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol as Congress met to certify the election of President Joe Biden. Since then, federal agents have arrested more than 725 people in connection with the attack. In North Carolina, 17 people have been charged with crimes at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Beddingfield faces multiple charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. Agents arrested Beddingfield in Smithfield Tuesday. He will appear before a federal judge in Raleigh Wednesday.