Maryland man arrested, accused of storming Capitol in Jan. 6 riot
BALTIMORE -- A Kent County, Maryland man is accused of storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C. last year, according to court documents.
Zachariah Sattler of Chestertown was arrested Wednesday. He allegedly wandered the Capitol after rioters breached the building, according to a statement of facts filed by an FBI investigator on Dec. 9.
A witness tipped off the FBI in September last year that Sattler was in the Capitol on Jan. 6 and smoked marijuana in the building.
Sattler was released on his own recognizance, but he was not at his home when WJZ knocked on his door on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old is facing a maximum of three years in prison on four misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct and entering a restricted building.
In its investigation, the agency found multiple images and videos that appeared to show Sattler. He was seen in Capitol CCTV footage wandering the area around the rotunda and Statuary Hall for over 20 minutes.
"During that period, Sattler was observed smoking or puffing something consistent with marijuana inside the Capitol Rotunda," the investigator said in the filing.
Sattler was seen celebrating and shouting to the crowd in the building, praying to the Nebraska statue, sitting on a sofa and taking pictures for other people before leaving out of the door he entered through.
Back at the east side entrance, Sattler allegedly urged others to enter the building, spoke with a law enforcement officer and then left the building.
The FBI interviewed a second witness in March, who also told investigators Sattler entered the Capitol and smoked marijuana there.
In May, the FBI used a search warrant to obtain Sattler's records from Google. They found that Sattler watched former President Donald Trump speak before heading to the Capitol.
Then-President Trump spoke to a crowd of his supporters at the "Stop the Steal" rally before many of them walked over to the Capitol, where Congress was preparing to certify President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
The filing said in one video obtained, Sattler said he wanted to "go hang out with the Proud Boys for a minute," before zooming in on the Capitol building and saying "there's that [expletive] Capitol building with all those dirty [expletive] in it."
In another video, Sattler "zoomed in on his own vomit and bragged that he 'threw up on the Capitol.'"
The investigator said in the filing that there is probable cause to believe Sattler committed multiple federal crimes, including entering restricted grounds without the authority to do so, engaging in disruptive conduct with the intent to impede government business, and other related charges.
In the 22 months since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 275 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
