A North Brunswick resident was charged with assaulting several U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, as well as other crimes, during the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6 that disrupted a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress in the process of affirming presidential election results.
Christopher Joseph Quaglin, 35, was charged by criminal complaint with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees; civil disorder; and obstruction of an official proceeding, according to information provided by the U.S. Department of Justice.
He made his initial appearance on April 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
According to court documents and publicly available video, Quaglin was seen repeatedly assaulting multiple law enforcement officers guarding and protecting the Capitol from rioters, according to the statement.
Body worn camera (BWC) footage shows Quaglin, wearing protective gear including a helmet and gas mask, engaging violently and disruptively with police, according to the statement.
As alleged, in the early afternoon around 1:36 p.m., Quaglin was captured on video approaching the police line and verbally engaging with MPD officers, shouting threats and profanities.
As described in charging documents, additional USCP surveillance video shows Quaglin pointing at and shoving a USCP officer on the Lower West Terrace while appearing increasingly agitated, according to the statement. Quaglin can be seen grabbing and pushing the officer by the neck before working with other rioters to rip one of the barrier fences out of the hands of MPD officers.
Around 2:34 p.m., BWC footage captured Quaglin lunging at an officer and pushing him down, according to the statement. As a result, several officers dropped their shields, which Quaglin and other rioters stole and passed back into the crowd.
At 3:03 p.m., Quaglin entered the Lower West Terrace tunnel to gain entry into the Capitol. According to video footage, Quaglin visibly pushed his way to the front of a large crowd and continued attempting to push past police guarding the Lower West Terrace exterior doors, according to the statement. For the 15 minutes that followed, Quaglin attacked police officers with the stolen riot shield and sprayed them with a chemical irritant also called OC spray.
At 3:06 p.m., Quaglin sprayed the chemical irritant at MPD and USCP officers, and again, at 3:07 p.m., directly into the face of an MPD officer who was not wearing a face shield or gas mask.
He can later be seen at the front of the line pushing up against the same MPD officer he sprayed with the chemical irritant, as the crowd yells “heave ho” and puts their collective mass behind Quaglin and others, according to the statement.
Quaglin remained on the front line of rioters impeding police until approximately 3:18 p.m. when he was pushed out of the tunnel with other rioters, according to the statement.
The 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. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, who listed Quaglin as No. 58 on their seeking information photos.
Significant assistance in this matter was provided by the FBI-Newark Field Office.
