A 24-year-old Bethesda man pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Steven Patrick Cook pleaded guilty to “two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, which are both felonies,” according to the release. Cook is scheduled to be sentenced on July 19 by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.
Cook’s attorney, Alexis Gardner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
On Jan. 6, 2021, “Congress was working to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory when rioters breached the Capitol after attending former President Donald Trump’s speech at a rally earlier in the day,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Cook was identified as being in the crowd of rioters that day through police officers’ body-worn camera footage and videos and photos, including ones he posted on social media, according to court documents.
Around 2:30 p.m., Cook and other rioters “broke through the police line” on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, entering a restricted area, and Cook assaulted at least one U.S. Capitol police officer and a Metropolitan Police Department officer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Cook grabbed at officers’ batons multiple times, hit and pushed them and “swung his closed fist at their heads,” according to court documents.
Police moved closer to the Capitol building to protect the Lower West Terrace Tunnel entrance, and Cook, along with the other rioters, chased them into the tunnel, according to court documents.
Cook “bull-rushed the police line head-first,” made physical contact with at least one Metropolitan police officer and grabbed an officer’s baton, court documents indicated.
Cook was arrested by the FBI on Sept. 16 in Maryland, according to the release.
In the more than three years since the insurrection took place, more than 1,358 people have been charged from nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the insurrection, including more than 486 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The investigation is ongoing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office asks that anyone with tips should call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.