The MTA employee seen inside the U.S. Capitol building during the violent January 6th riots was indicted Friday on a number of federal charges including conspiracy to prevent law enforcement officers from protecting the Capitol and its grounds, according to court documents that linked him to the white nationalist group Proud Boys.
William Pepe, 31, and another man allegedly connected to the Proud Boys, Dominic “Spaz” Pezzola, 43, of Rochester, were indicted Friday in federal court in Washington D.C. on charges that they conspired to commit an offense against the United States during the breach of the Capitol building by pro-Trump insurrectionists. They also face charges of civil disorder; unlawfully entering restricted buildings or grounds; and disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted buildings or grounds.
In addition, Pezzola was also charged with obstruction of an official proceeding; additional counts of civil disorder and aiding and abetting civil disorder; robbery of personal property of the United States; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; destruction of government property; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted buildings or grounds.
The two men had both attended other Proud Boys events, federal prosecutors said. Pepe, a Beacon resident who worked in the Brewster rail yard for Metro-North, was “a member of the Proud Boys and kept various articles of Proud Boy-related paraphernalia in his home in Beacon, including a tactical vest with the Proud Boys logo on it,” according to federal prosecutors.
Pezzola, a former Marine, had on his social media sites a biography that said "’Marine vet / boxer / patriot/ Proud Boy 2nd°.’ Pezzola kept at his home a tactical vest with the Proud Boys logo on it,” the indictment said.
Pepe and Pezzola were identified as part of a group of Proud Boys that gathered near an entrance to the Capitol grounds on January 6th and chanted "F*** Antifa" and "We love Trump."
Pepe was seen moving the metal police barricades, the indictment read, with Pezzola filmed confronting a Capitol Police officer attempting to control the crowd and ripping away the officer's riot shield.
A viral video shows a bearded man, whom authorities believed to be Pezzola, using the police shield to repeatedly smash a window in the Capitol building. The damage to the window led a horde of rioters in, with an unidentified voice shouting, "Go, go, go."
A witness told federal prosecutors that members of Pezzola’s group said they would have killed any lawmakers they found in the Capitol building, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Pepe continues to be suspended without pay, the MTA said Saturday. The indictment said he had taken a sick day from work to attend the January 6th rally.
An inquiry to one of Pepe’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment Saturday. Pezzola’s lawyer Michael Scibetta told the Associated Press Saturday “he was researching the charges but hadn’t been able yet to discuss the indictment with his client, who is being held without bail.” The AP also spoke to another lawyer representing Pepe, Shelli Peterson, who declined to comment.
Christopher Ortiz, 27, of Huntington was also arrested Wednesday on charges he allegedly filmed himself storming the Capitol, then bragged to a high school friend on Instagram that he would "storm the Capitol for you any day." He was charged in federal court with knowingly entering a restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct on federal grounds. After agreeing to surrender his passport and to avoid Washington D.C., except for court appearances, he was released on a $60,000 bond provided by his parents.
