5 People Charged With Assaulting Police Officers With Flag Poles, Zip Ties at Capitol Riot

By Matthew Impelli On 7/8/21 at 1:12 PM EDT

U.S. Capitol Riots Washington D.C. Arrest

Five individuals were recently arrested in Florida and charged with assaulting police officers with flag poles and other objects during the January 6 Capitol riot.

According to recently unsealed court documents, the five people are Jonathan Pollock, Olivia Michele Pollock, Joseph Hutchinson, Joshua Doolin and Michael Perkins.

The court documents state that after reviewing U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) surveillance footage and body-worn camera footage, an FBI investigator "identified a group of individuals who appear to have moved together from the Washington Monument to the Capitol grounds on the afternoon of January 6, 2021."

The FBI investigator was able to eventually identify the group of five individuals after showing pictures of them to several witnesses. The witnesses confirmed that the pictures were the five individuals at the Capitol on January 6.

A satellite photo of the Capitol on January 6 included in the court document showed the approximate location of the Pollocks, Hutchinson, Doolin and Perkins. The document states that at approximately 1:56 p.m. ET, Jonathan Pollock and another unidentified associated "charge towards the line of police officers, brandishing flagpoles."

Several pictures included in the court document show Jonathan Pollock and others assaulting police officers who were attempting to stop the rioters and protect the Capitol. According to the court document, at approximately 2:04 p.m., surveillance and body-worn camera footage show Doolin retrieving a flagpole, while Jonathan Pollock was seen grabbing a police officer's riot shield.

The document then states that at one point, Doolin dropped the flagpole he was carrying and moved back from the line of police officers after he was hit with "chemical spray," but the flagpole was retrieved by Perkins, who then "throws it in the direction of Jonathan Pollock and the line of police officers."

Capitol Riots — Five people were arrested in Florida on Thursday and charged with assaulting a police officer during the Capitol riot. Above, rioters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Brent Stirton/Getty

After a police officer is pulled into the crowd of rioters, the document says that Perkins thrust a "flagpole into the chest of a police officer."

"Perkins then raises the flagpole over his head, brings the flagpole down in the direction of another officer, and appears to strike that officer in the back or the back of the head," the document said.

Several other pictures included in the court document showed the five individuals repeatedly assaulting police officers and attempting to breach their defense line.

In addition to brandishing flagpoles, the court document states that while Jonathan Pollock and Olivia Pollock can be seen yelling at officers, Doolin appeared to have "zip tie handcuffs in his belt and a riot-control chemical irritant canister."

Jonathan Pollock was also seen in pictures in the court document hitting an officer with a riot shield "preventing them from defending against the attacks."

All five of the individuals were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; theft of government property; entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building.