US Air Force Veteran Arrested For Involvement In Capitol Riot

A former U.S. Air Force pilot has been arrested by federal authorities in connection to last week’s siege of the Capitol. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. from Texas was identified as he was brandishing zip-tie handcuffs during the siege at the U.S. Capitol building.

Brock, 53, was captured in photographs on the Senate floor wearing a Kevlar helmet, a green tactical vest with military patches on his flak jacket, and beige pants while holding a white flex cuff which is used by law enforcement to restrain subjects.

According to the Justice Department, Brock was arrested Sunday and has been charged with "one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds”.

The former airman confirmed his participation in the riot in an interview with Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker. Farrow reported that Brock had found the plastic handcuffs on the floor and picked them up but then regretted it. He also said Brock denied entering House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office suite, despite footage that appeared to show him emerging from it.

In a story published on Military.com, Brock had been an A-10 Warthog pilot until 2007. His last known position was Admissions Liaison Officer with the U.S. Air Force Academy prior to his retirement. He began his career as an active-duty airman in 1989 and graduated from the Air Force Academy. He was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and had received awards including six Air Medals and three Aerial Achievement Medals. He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2014.

His flak jacket captured in photos sported a patch with the insignia of the 706th Fighter Squadron where Brock claimed he had served as a flight commander.

In his affidavit, Brock admitted to his participation in the rally.

"The president asked for his supporters to be there to attend, and I felt like it was important, because of how much I love this country, to actually be there”.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto’s Munk School said he was able to identify Brock in a photo and had notified the F.B.I. Scott-Railton said he was using facial recognition software to identify various people involved in the Capitol riot which left 5 people dead, The New Yorker wrote.

The FBI has charged thirteen individuals involved in the attack on the Capitol with some of them identified by a crowd-sourced online movement who have been collaborating and posting individual faces of people in tweets to supplement traditional law enforcement investigations.