WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors unsealed charges Monday against an Ohio man who joined a caravan to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, and then entered the U.S. Capitol as part of the mob.
Trevor Cain, 39, of Aurora, Ohio, was arrested Monday on one felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding and four misdemeanor counts for his alleged role in the Capitol riot.
According to charging documents, Cain traveled from Cleveland, Ohio, to D.C. on Jan. 6 as part of a seven-bus caravan coordinated through a grass roots organization called Free Ohio Now. According to the group’s website, it was founded in response to government restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Feb. 5, 2021, interview with the FBI, Cain reportedly said he came to D.C. register his dissent with the 2020 presidential election.
In that interview, agents said Cain acknowledged entering the Capitol with others after hearing flash bangs going off in the area. In a subsequent interview in May 2022, Cain reportedly told the FBI he saw people punching doors and windows but believe he stayed in areas anyone was allowed to tour. According to charging documents, Cain also provided his phone to investigators during the second interview and directed them to a hidden folder which contained images and videos from Jan. 6.
In one video, investigators said, Cain can be heard in the Rotunda of the Capitol narrating his time inside the building, at one point saying, “Yeah, we had to break a door and a window to get back in here. Hey, but it’s our house so it’s ok anyways.”
In another video, investigators said, Cain can be heard saying, “This is what we fought for, 1776… This is what 1776 was all about… This is our house… Welcome to history, ladies and gentlemen, January 6th, 2021, when we took our country back.”
Investigators also found publicly available video on YouTube of Cain speaking near the Lincoln Memorial in which he gave a speech asking others, “Who wants to take the promised land today?”
According to charging documents, Cain was inside the building for approximately 30 minutes and was photographed at one point in a crowd near the Old Senate Chamber that confronted police. Investigators said a video obtained from another Jan. 6 defendant appeared to capture Cain saying, “Back up, they’re spraying,” while part of that crowd.
Investigators said other video shows Cain approaching individuals in military gear in the Rotunda and saying, “Hey! Guess who’s not trespassing?”
After leaving the building, Cain gave an interview on the steps of the Capitol posted to the YouTube channel “Barely Informed with Elad.” In the video, Cain told the interviewer “history was in the air.”
“And before you know it, we’re storming like the… beaches of Normandy, the Capitol, take it back, because it’s not some dumb phrase. This is our house.”
It was unclear Monday afternoon whether Cain had yet made his initial appearance before a judge.