North Carolina man in Jan. 6 Capitol riots photo admits storming the Capitol, feds say
A North Carolina man seen face-to-face with a police officer in a famous photo from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots admitted Friday to his role in the violent breach.
Nathan Baer, a 44-year-old Asheville resident, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to civil disorder, a felony, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Baer admitted to handing police shields to fellow rioters and pushing with the crowd against a line of law enforcement officers in the lower west tunnel where police fought hand-to-hand for hours against hundreds of Donald Trump supporters.
The crowd tried to enter the building to disrupt congressional certification of the ex-president’s election loss to Joe Biden.
Some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement occurred in the tunnel, according to a criminal complaint filed against Baer by an FBI agent.
Baer pushed against people in front of him in the tunnel, the FBI agent said. At the mouth of the tunnel, he passed two police shields to those ahead, according to the complaint.
He returned to the tunnel 30 seconds later to join the crowd in a back-and-forth movement against police, the agent said.
“Heave! Ho!” the crowd yelled as everyone moved back and forth pushing against police, according to the complaint. Baer passed another riot shield to those ahead of him, the court document shows.
Baer then headed toward a police line and doors of the Capitol building, the agent said. He and others in the crowd physically resisted police who tried to expel them from the tunnel, according to the complaint. Baer left the tunnel at 3:19 p.m., the FBI agent said.
Baer appeared in an iconic photo from that day showing him nearly face to face with Michael Fanone just before the Washington, D.C., police officer was dragged away by the mob. A U.S. flag with a pro-police thin blue stripe waved above them.
The FBI arrested Baer on June 26, 2023, in Asheville. He became at least the 30th North Carolinian to be charged in connection with the violence.
Baer is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 6, court records show.
At least 1,358 people in all 50 states have been charged in the Capitol breach, prosecutors said Friday.
This story was originally published April 6, 2024 at 10:57 AM with the headline "North Carolina man in Jan. 6 Capitol riots photo admits storming the Capitol, feds say."