(NewsGlobal.com)- On Monday, the FBI confirmed that federal investigators had arrested the man who participated in the riot and attacked law enforcement at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, while wearing a panda mask, CBS News reported.
Jesse James Rumson, who was known among some online communities as “#SeditionPanda,” was taken into custody in Florida on Monday and charged with multiple felonies, including assaulting and obstructing the police outside of the US Capitol.
Rumson allegedly forced his way to the Capitol building along with a large mob of Trump supporters during which he wore the head of a panda costume, according to charging papers. Investigators say Rumson hopped over the railings after rioters broke a door to the Senate wing and was among the first people to enter through that entrance.
According to prosecutors, once inside the Capitol, Rumson, free of the panda head, was handcuffed before being forced out of the building through another door. Based on photographs presented in the court documents, investigators say others in the mob helped remove Rumson’s handcuffs. He was then photographed holding up a set of wooden rosary beads.
Rumson then ran through the crowd outside of the Capitol building toward a line of law enforcement officers where he grabbed one of the officer’s masks, forcing his head and neck “back and upwards,” according to the complaint.
Since the January 6 riot, about 980 defendants have been charged, according to court records. Of those, over 310 have faced charges of assaulting, impeding, or obstructing police during the 3-hour melee, CBS News reported.
In January, a Washington DC jury convicted four men, including three Oath Keepers, of seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6 riot.
The men, Joseph Hackett, Roberto Minuta, David Moerschel, and Edward Vellejo, were also found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to prevent a member of Congress from discharging official duties.
