Barry Allen Toth (Photos from court documents)
A Michigan man who bragged, “I just stormed the f—— capitol building and helped kick down the chamber door” during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack has been arrested in connection with the insurrection, authorities said.
Barry Allen Toth, 35, is charged with a felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding and several misdemeanors, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
He joined thousands of Donald Trump supporters protesting Congress certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win that day in an “open-source” video dressed in a camouflaged body armor vest with a red, white, and blue “I voted” sticker on the front.
He wore a blue hat with the words “Trump 2020,” a gray shirt or jacket with white checkered sleeves, and a red and white checkered hood, officials said.
“This is our country and we are taking it back. Hell or high water. I love you,” he says to a camera as the crowd chants, “Fight for Trump.”
Toth climbed through a broken window next to the Senate wing door to get into the Capitol building at 2:21 that day, eight minutes after the initial breach, authorities said closed-circuit TV footage showed.
“I just stormed the f—— Capitol,” he can allegedly be heard saying as he walked toward the crypt.
Toth allegedly pushed to the front of a group with a fire extinguisher and stood outside the House Chamber Door, where members of Congress were sheltering.
As the crowd chanted, “Break it down,” someone smashed the glass panes of the House Chamber door. Toth allegedly looked through the glass and saw officers inside with their guns drawn and pointing at the door, authorities said.
He put his hands up and stepped away from the door, allegedly telling the crowd, “They have guns.”
At one point, he made a futile attempt to calm the crowd near the door, saying, “Everybody please listen to me, we need to remain calm. We made our point, let’s be peaceful,” officials said.
But the crowd continued chanting and banging on doors anyway, court documents said.
Toth remained with the crowd that berated officers and threatened members of Congress through the broken glass panes before police used tear gas to clear them away.
“We pushed that way, then I saw a bunch of smoke,” Toth told a rioter at one point before walking out of the Capitol building at 2:51 p.m., 30 minutes after he went in, authorities said.
Then he sang the national anthem with the crowd, officials said.
A statement of facts alleges Toth was linked to the riot through GPS data on his cellphone, putting him at the U.S. Capitol from 2:22 to 2:50 that day.
In an interview with two FBI agents at his house in June 2021, he admitted he had entered the Capitol building that day, authorities said.
