A former high editor of an Orthodox Jewish newspaper in New York Metropolis was arrested Thursday on expenses that he interfered with cops who have been attempting to guard the U.S. Capitol in the course of the Jan. 6 riot.
Elliot Resnick, 39, was chief editor of The Jewish Press when he joined the group of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in keeping with an FBI agent’s affidavit.
Movies present Resnick grabbing and holding the arm of a Capitol police sergeant who was spraying a chemical irritant to stop rioters from coming into the constructing, the affidavit says. One other officer tried to take away Resnick’s hand from the sergeant’s arm, the agent wrote.
The FBI arrested Resnick in New York Metropolis on expenses together with civil dysfunction and assault of or interference with regulation enforcement. Clay Kaminsky, an lawyer representing Resnick in New York, declined to touch upon the costs.
The Jewish Press, primarily based in Brooklyn, payments itself as the most important impartial weekly Jewish newspaper within the U.S. A press release on its web site says it’s “recognized for its editorial feistiness” and “was politically incorrect lengthy earlier than the phrase was coined.”
Politico reported in April 2021 that video confirmed Resnick contained in the Capitol on Jan. 6. Resnick later wrote an article defending the Capitol riot with out acknowledging his presence within the constructing that day, Politico’s report famous.
On the time, The Jewish Press writer Naomi Mauer informed Politico that the newspaper believed Resnick “acted throughout the regulation.” A press release from The Jewish Press editorial board confirmed Resnick was within the Capitol on Jan. 6 and had been “masking the rally and the remainder of the day’s horrible occasions” for the newspaper.
The editorial board wrote, “The Jewish Press doesn’t see why Elliot’s private views on former President Trump ought to make him any completely different from the handfuls of different journalists masking the occasions, together with many contained in the Capitol constructing in the course of the riots.”
Then-President Trump addressed a crowd of his supporters on the “Cease the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. The mob that stormed the Capitol disrupted a joint session of Congress that was certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Earlier than the riot, Resnick posted social media messages echoing Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats stole the election from him, in keeping with posts cited by the FBI affidavit.
Resnick had been a reporter and editor at The Jewish Press since 2006. He left the newspaper in Might 2021, earlier than the FBI says it started investigating him.
The Jewish Press employees didn’t instantly reply to e-mail and phone messages searching for touch upon Resnick’s arrest.
Roughly 1,000 individuals have been charged with federal crimes associated to the Capitol riot. A number of riot defendants have claimed that they have been appearing as journalists after they joined the mob in coming into the Capitol, however prosecutors and judges have routinely rejected these claims.
For the previous two years, the FBI has been fanning out throughout the county to arrest Capitol riot suspects. The circumstances are sometimes primarily based on ideas that they obtained within the first months after the riot.
The FBI agent’s account of Resnick’s actions on Jan. 6 painting him as an lively participant within the riot.
Video confirmed Resnick repeatedly gesturing for others to come back up stairs towards the Capitol after rioters broke by a line of cops, the agent’s affidavit says.
Renick was one of many first rioters to enter the Capitol by the East Rotunda doorways, in keeping with the FBI. After coming into the constructing, Resnick joined others in making an attempt to push open a door {that a} police officer was attempting to maintain closed, the FBI stated. One other officer who tried to cease Renick was thrown to the bottom by a distinct rioter.
Resnick grabbed and pulled different rioters into the Capitol after he did not open the door, in keeping with the affidavit. It says he spent roughly 50 minutes contained in the Capitol earlier than leaving.
