WASHINGTON — Police arrested a Connecticut man on Tuesday accused of assaulting police and crushing DC Police Officer Daniel Hodges against a door during the assault on the Capitol on January 6.
Patrick Edward McCaughey III was taken into custody in New York on charges of assaulting an officer, civil disorder, entering a restricted building and violent entry.
In a probable cause affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, federal investigators say they identified McCaughey as a man seen in numerous photographs and videos from Jan. 6 using a clear plastic police riot shield to assault officers. One of those officers was Hodges, who was injured when he was crushed against a door by a mob of people.
“In the front line of rioters, an individual, who has subsequently been identified as McCaughey… can be seen using a clear police riot shield to physically push against the left side of Officer Hodges’ body,” the affidavit reads. “Officer Hodges was pinned between the clear police riot shield being held by McCaughey and the lower west terrace door. Officer Hodges appeared to be loudly crying out in pain. As Officer Hodges was being pinned to the door by McCaughey, a separate rioter was violently ripping off Officer Hodges’ gas mask, exposing Officer Hodges’ bloodied mouth. As McCaughey was using the riot shield to push against Officer Hodges, numerous other rioters behind and around McCaughey appeared to add to the weight against Officer Hodges.”
Law enforcement was able to identify McCaughey after the DC Police department released a BOLO asking for tips. According to the affidavit, an individual who had known McCaughey since childhood contacted the FBI National Threat Operations Center and identified McCaughey. The individual was also able to provide the FBI with a selfie that McCaughey had allegedly taken at the Capitol and sent to mutual acquaintances.
With a positive identification in hand, according to the affidavit law enforcement was then able to match McCaughey with a number of photographs and videos taken during the day, including Capitol surveillance footage showing him holding a riot shield near the west tunnel entrance, and bodyworn camera footage that recorded him repeatedly striking an officer who may have been attempting to drag Hodges out of the way.
According to the affidavit, at one point in those recordings McCaughey can be heard telling police, “Come on man, you are going to get squished. Just go home. You see me. Just go home. Talk to your buddies and go home.”
Hodges was one of several MPD officers who spoke publicly about the events at the Capitol. He said while he was being crushed he could hear people yelling at him that he was a traitor.
"We're not the traitors," Hodges said. "We're the ones who saved Congress that day and we'll do it as many times as necessary."
We're tracking all of the arrests, charges and investigations into the January 6 assault on the Capitol. Sign up for our Capitol Breach Newsletter here so that you never miss an update.