Hammer-Wielding Rioter From Florida Caught & Charged By Feds

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A Capitol rioter from Florida who apparently had a sledgehammer while participating in the violence has now joined the hundreds of Trump supporters who have been hit with federal charges for their roles in the riot. That individual is 33-year-old St. Petersburg, Florida-resident Zachary Johnson, whose arrest was announced by the Justice Department alongside the arrests of two other Capitol rioters, both of whom were also from Florida. Johnson’s charges include civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon — and the last charge alone carries a sentence of up to 20 years in jail, if found guilty.

The other new arrests from Florida include the cases of 28-year-old Alan Fischer III and 61-year-old Dion Rajewski, both of whom are also facing serious charges. Meanwhile, Johnson also apparently stands accused of using pepper spray against officers at the Capitol. According to a press release from the Justice Department, Fischer “marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with members of the Proud Boys,” a violent, far-right organization that was present alongside similar groups at the storming of the Capitol. Eventually, that press release adds, Fischer “moved to the west front of the Capitol,” where “he threw chairs, an orange traffic cone, and a pole towards officers.” Certain Republicans have at times frantically sought to downplay the seriousness of what happened, but these facts constitute the reality: police sustained serious assaults from these rampaging fanatics.

These new arrests were announced in close conjunction to the revelation that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes had been arrested on a charge of seditious conspiracy for his involvement in preparations for violence ahead of January 6. A full ten other individuals were also charged with the same offense. Rhodes has been revealed to have been preparing for violence weeks before the Capitol attack — in a December 2020 message, he wrote that in the event that Biden took office, “it will be a bloody and desperate fight. We are going to have a fight. That can’t be avoided.” He is also alleged to have dropped huge sums of money — meaning $15,000+ — on weaponry in the lead-up to January 6.