RI Man Charged With Assaulting Officers During January 6 Attack on Capitol

RI Man Charged With Assaulting Officers During January 6 Attack on Capitol

A Rhode Island man has been charged with by the U.S. Department of Justice for assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon and other crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

According to the Justice Department, Timothy Desjardins, 35, of Providence, is charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges. The criminal complaint was unsealed Monday in the District of Columbia. 

Desjardins is in custody in Rhode Island on unrelated charges -- he was arrested on Federal Hill earlier in November following a standoff with police, and had previously been arrested for allegedly shooting a man in the Walgreens parking lot on Federal Hill. 

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He will make his initial court appearance in this case at a date to be scheduled later. 

READ: Providence’s Revolving Door of Gun Crimes: Suspects Arrested, Released, Then Arrested Again

 

According to law enforcement, matching images from the attack on the U.S. Capitol to Desjardin's RI driver's license photo was critical.        

In the ten months since January 6, more than 675 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 210 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

According to court documents, video footage depicts Desjardins assaulting multiple law enforcement officers in the tunnel area of the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, at approximately 4:46 p.m. on Jan. 6, using what appears to be a broken wooden table leg. At the time, law enforcement was under assault from a crowd of other rioters who were pushing themselves into the tunnel and hurling various objects, such as a baton and table, at the officers.’

“A review of videos posted on YouTube revealed DESJARDINS assaulted multiple law enforcement officers who were in the tunnel by striking the officers repeatedly with what appears to be a significant amount of force and using what appears to be a broken wooden table leg.  During this time, the law enforcement officers were also being assaulted by a crowd of other violent rioters who were also attempting to push themselves into the tunnel and hurling various objects, such as a baton and a table at the officers.  These YouTube videos were compared to footage from BWCs worn by officers who were in the tunnel.  Based on those comparisons, it is believed that the events captured in the videos occurred at approximately 4:46 p.m,” according to FBI officers' affidavit.

"A comparison of DESJARDINS face, as depicted in his Rhode Island driver’s license photograph, a photograph from January 6, 2021, and two mugshot photos from Providence Police Department and Adult Correctional Institute in October 2021, show a distinctive scar located on DESJARDINS’ right upper lip," stated the document.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.

The case is being investigated by the Providence Resident Agency of the FBI’s Boston Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Desjardin as #348 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.