ORLANDO, Fla. – FBI agents arrested a Michigan man Friday in Orlando on charges connected to the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

According to court records, the FBI received several tips that Jeremy Rodgers, 29, of Midland, Michigan, went to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

Several tips identified him on the FBI’s Most Wanted website, as well.

Agents said they tried to interview Rodgers in December of 2022, but he declined.

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THE CASE

FBI investigators write in court records they identified Rodgers in surveillance footage at the U.S. Capitol holding a blue flag that read, “Trump 2020.”

They said he was seen pushing against a line of officers and overrunning officers defending the stairs around the East Rotunda Door.

“Video… shows Rodgers using his flagpole as a weapon, swinging it down onto the officers who were blocking access to the door,” investigators wrote. “Rodgers struck a USCP officer (hereinafter identified as “Officer-1,” whose identity is known to the FBI) three times on his helmet. The strikes are loud enough to be heard in videos documenting the assault. After a short time passed, Rodgers struck down with the flagpole twice more in the direction of the officers.”

Investigators also said Rodgers used his flagpole to gain entry to the Capitol. They said he used it to strike down in the doorway of the East Rotunda door after it was opened until he could get inside.

Afterward, investigators claimed Rodgers was part of a group of people who tried to get inside the House chambers.

They said he “pushed forward within feet of the door,” where officers had guns drawn on the other side.

He was seen chanting with other rioters, “Stop the steal” and “break it down.”

He then got into a scuffle with Capitol police, according to the document.

“At some point during this altercation, another rioter appears to deploy a white spray, which hits one of the officers,” investigators wrote. “Rodgers walks away, and moments later, law enforcement deployed smoke, tear gas, or some other irritant, presumably in an attempt to disperse the rioters.”

Rodgers faces eight federal charges in connection with his involvement, including assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, civil disorder and committing an act of physical violence in a restricted building.

He faces a judge Friday afternoon in Orlando’s federal courthouse, where he was released.

He will face arraignment in Washington, D.C.

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