A Texas man was arrested Tuesday on charges stemming from the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to federal prosecutors.
Geoffrey Samuel Shough, 37, of Austin, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder and related offenses.
Shough was arrested on a tipoff from his ex-girlfriend, a week after they broke up. He made an initial appearance Tuesday in the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas.
According to court documents, Shough was among the crowd of rioters at the Capitol on January 6. He was captured on video waving a Texas flag and wearing a jacket over what appeared to be a body armor vest, a ballistic-style helmet, goggles, and hard-knuckle gloves.
Later, he was spotted in a crowd outside the Senate Wing Door at approximately 2:45 pm. Minutes later, he was among the first few individuals to breach a line of uniformed U.S. Capitol Police officers attempting to keep rioters from entering. The rioters, including Shough, overwhelmed the officers and forcibly entered the building.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The case was investigated by FBI agents in Austin and Washington, DC.
In the 13 months since January 6, more than 750 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 235 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The breach of the capital disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
