El Paso man allegedly involved in breach of the U.S. Capitol last year charged by federal government

An El Paso man has been arrested on federal felony and misdemeanor charges for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last year. David Rene Arredondo, 47, is charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers” during the riot where protesters and supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed and breached the U.S. Capitol. The charges are classified as felonies. Arredondo also faces additional misdemeanor charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a news release.

“According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Arredondo illegally entered the Capitol grounds. He grabbed the arm of a law enforcement officer trying to stop the mob of rioters from entering the Capitol doors,” the news release states. “By grabbing the officer’s arm and attempting to pull him away from the door, Arredondo sought to facilitate the entry of other rioters into the Capitol.” Federal investigators traced Arredondo’s whereabouts on the day of the insurrection using Google, phone and email data, according to a sworn complaint from an agent assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and submitted to a federal magistrate judge. The information was used to identify a "maps display radius" of where Arredondo was around the time the U.S. Capitol was attacked. Investigators also found Arredondo flew to Washington, D.C. with two family members on January 4 and stayed at the Capitol Hill Hotel. Surveillance video at the hotel showed Arredondo walking the grounds and leaving on Jan. 6, 2021.