The former editor of a Brooklyn-based newspaper was charged with a federal crime on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a police officer and shooting other suspected rioters through a gate of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, according to the prosecutors.
Elliot Resnick, the former editor of The Jewish Press, was arrested Thursday in Manhattan for his alleged role in the capitol breach, in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said he was the one of the first people to step inside. building on January 6, 2021.
Resnick, 39, and the Orthodox Jewish newspaper he worked for acknowledged that he was at the Capitol that day, but was working there as a reporter.
An FBI affidavit paints a radically different picture.
Resnick is accused of grabbing and holding the arm of a Capitol Police officer trying to stop a crowd from entering the federal building through the east rotunda doors.
He was one of the first to successfully get inside the building around 2:30 p.m. and then lure other rioters into the Capitol, according to court documents.
Before getting people inside, Resnick tried to open another door which a policeman fought to keep closed at the entrance, but when another officer tried to arrest Resnick, it cop was knocked to the ground by another rioter, the FBI said.
Resnick clapped the others behind her back as people entered, prosecutors said.
After Politico reported on Resnick’s presence at the Capitol in an April 2021 article, the Jewish Press editorial board confirmed that he had entered the building, but was “covering the rally and the rest of the day of terrible events for the Jewish press, where he has been a reporter and editor since 2006.
“The Jewish press fails to see why Elliot’s personal views on former President Trump should set him apart from the dozens of other reporters covering the events, many of them inside the Capitol building during the riots, or why his presence warrants a story in Politico while the presence of other reporters inside the building does not,” the editorial board wrote, according to Politico.
But The Jewish Press also admitted at the time that it never printed any stories about the riot in its print edition “due to the heated atmosphere surrounding the day’s events, particularly within the Jewish community. New York Orthodox”.
Among the charges against him are civil disturbance and assault or interference with law enforcement.
Resnick was at the Capitol — in a different part of the building — for about 50 minutes, according to video footage, authorities said. The affidavit shows multiple instances of a man authorities say Resnick wandering the property.
His tenure at the newspaper ended in May 2021, before authorities launched an investigation into his actions.
The FBI agent in the affidavit wrote that he consulted with the US Department of Justice’s media policy before any charges were brought.
About 1,000 people across the country have been arrested for their role in the Capitol Hill breach that disrupted Congress certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
The riot was preceded by a rally organized by former President Donald Trump, who mistakenly believes the election was not legitimate.
The DOJ said Wednesday that up to 1,200 additional rioters could still face charges for the Capitol riot.