By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. law enforcement agents on Tuesday arrested a North Carolina man accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 while he was out on bail on an unrelated attempted murder charge, according to a newly unsealed court document.
Prosecutors allege that during deadly Capitol siege Matthew Beddingfield jumped over a barricade, charged toward a group of police officers, and jabbed them with a metal flagpole he brought with him.
At the time of the Jan 6. attack, Beddingfield was out on bail while awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge.
In that case, Beddingfield was charged with shooting a 17-year-old in the head after an altercation in a Walmart parking lot in Smithfield, North Carolina.
Beddingfield was 19 at the time of his Dec. 2019 arrest in that case. The victim survived the shooting.
Soon after that incident, Beddingfield’s father told a local news outlet that his son had been robbed and was defending himself.
According to NBC News, Beddingfield eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge relating to the 2019 shooting and is currently on probation in that case.
A lawyer for Beddingfield was not immediately reachable for comment.
The U.S. Justice Department said last month that more than 225 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers during the storming of the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted that day, according to the Justice Department.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Alistair Bell)
