MD Man Arrested For Assaulting Cops During Jan. 6 Capitol Riot: DOJ

WASHINGTON, DC — A Maryland man is facing several charges after authorities said he assaulted several police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Nicholas Ortt, 43, of Mount Airy, was arrested in Ellicott City last week and charged with felony civil disorder and assaulting police officers, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release.

He also faces several misdemeanor counts including disorderly conduct and entering and engaging in an act of violence on U.S. Capitol grounds, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Ortt traveled from his Maryland home to the U.S. Capitol and joined thousands of former President Donald Trump supporters to disrupt a joint session of Congress gathered to certify the 2020 election results.

Around 2:30 p.m., Ortt and several others attempted to breach a police line gathered outside the Capitol by grabbing the officers' batons and attacking them, prosecutors said. Once Ortt breached the line, he and others continued confronting officers before entering the Capitol, according to court documents.

In the 38 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,350 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the attack. The investigation remains ongoing.