New York resident Ralph Joseph Celentano III has become one of the latest individuals to be arrested for their participation in the Capitol riot last year, where Celentano is said to have physically struggled with officers, including one who he knocked off a ledge onto a terrace down below with what the targeted officer described as a “football-type tackle.” According to a statement of facts associated with Celentano’s criminal charges, federal authorities were assisted in their identification of the newly arrested New York resident by someone who has known the defendant for more than 13 years, although further details about this witness were not publicly provided. That individual, however, “positively identified” Celentano in a selection of images from the riot, according to that document.
Court filings in new US Capitol riot conspiracy case against Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio say the feds have also sought search warrants for "two co-conspirators" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania & Belmont, N. Carolina
I checked…. those search warrants are still sealed
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 9, 2022
The officer who Celentano knocked over the ledge — identified in the federal document simply as “K.E.” — “went on to state that he was frightened and no longer felt safe once he was on the lower terrace amongst such a large crowd. Officer K.E. said he probably sustained injuries during the fall, but he had so much adrenaline at that time that he could not be sure,” according to the FBI agent who prepared the materials in association with Celentano’s charges. The officer also echoed concerns among law enforcement personnel for their lives that day; as the officer, who’s a veteran of the Iraq War, put it, they remember thinking to themselves that they “didn’t survive a war to go out like this.” Celentano’s charges now include assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and other offenses. The first two acts are felonies and seemingly carry a combined potential sentence of over 10 years in prison — at least eight for the assaulting police charge and five for civil disorder.
“For all I know, he could be indicted one day”
Important thread via @RobLegare https://t.co/UO5uQGVl91
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 9, 2022
At the Capitol, Celentano also engaged in physical altercations with other officers besides the individual who he knocked over a ledge. More than 245 individuals among the hundreds and hundreds who’ve been charged in connection to the riot have been specifically accused of assaulting or impeding police officers in some form. When Trump talks about potentially pardoning rioters in the event that he wins the presidency again, people who violently assaulted law enforcement personnel are among the people who he’s touting, no matter the Republican Party’s long-standing supposed commitment to its pro-police sentiments. Meanwhile, although numerous rioters have pleaded guilty and been sentenced, the first trial of a rioter who opted for that route recently ended with the defendant, Texas resident Guy Reffitt, found guilty on all charges, including five felonies. Other forthcoming trials are set to deal with allegations including seditious conspiracy, a charge that has been lodged against individuals affiliated with the far-right Oath Keepers.
Trump Was Mostly Absent From The First Jan. 6 Trial. That Could Change. https://t.co/QoIhaV7jHa
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 10, 2022
Featured image edited and taken from Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons License
