Feds: Oakdale man stormed Capitol with baseball bat, stole chair

An Oakdale man climbed through a broken window of the U.S. Capitol building during a Washington, D.C., riot earlier this month, taking a chair from inside and attempting to smash a window with a baseball bat, according to federal charges filed Tuesday.

Jorden Mink, 27, faces a half-dozen charges including destruction of government property and theft of government property.

A second Western Pennsylvania man — Matthew Perna, 36, of Sharon — is charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The deadly riots Jan. 6 saw thousands of Trump supporters descend on the Capitol during a joint session of Congress to affirm Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. Five people died in the unrest: a Capitol Police officer, a rioter shot by police trying to climb through a shattered door and three others who suffered medical emergencies.

Hundreds of people who went inside the building livestreamed their actions on social media, and more posted about it in the aftermath. Federal authorities have been using social media photos and videos to identify suspects in the attack.

Last week, FBI agents in Pittsburgh received a tip that Mink was spotted in one of the images being used to identify rioters, according to the complaint against him. Authorities said they used Mink’s neck and finger tattoos to confirm his identity in the footage, which allegedly showed him using a baseball bat to shatter a window.

Footage also allegedly showed Mink climbing through a broken window into the Capitol building, grabbing a chair and passing it to the crowd outside, according to the complaint.

Authorities searched Mink’s social media accounts and found a photo he’d posted of himself at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 3, according to the complaint.

On Nov. 3, Election Day, authorities said he posted a photo of himself holding a firearm with an “I Voted” sticker on it with the caption, “The ballot is stronger than the bullet,” attributing the quote to Abraham Lincoln. The caption continued: “Well … my magazines will be fully loaded just in case it’s not.”

Federal public defender Andrew Lipson argued that a detention hearing wasn’t necessary because none of the charges against Mink rose to the level of severity required by the government to hold a suspect. He argued the destruction of property charge wasn’t necessarily a crime of violence.

“I think you are completely oversimplifying very, very serious charges against your client,” said Magisterial District Judge Maureen P. Kelly, who presided over the virtual hearing.

Federal prosecutor Soo Song argued that not only had Mink committed a crime of violence, he’s also a flight risk and danger to the community. A detention hearing and preliminary hearing are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

According to the complaint against Perna, he was seen in one video inside the Capitol wearing a red hoodie with “Make America Great Again” in white lettering. In a video posted to his Facebook page, Perna and others were filmed in their hotel room talking about their experience, according to the complaint. At one point, authorities allege, Perna said, “Steve and I, we walked right into the Capitol building.”

Last week, authorities spoke to Perna, who said he’d been at the rally and near the Capitol building and, at one point, walked to the building’s west side and discovered a door was open, according to the complaint.

“Perna claimed that he was pushed into the building by a crowd that had gathered behind him,” federal authorities wrote in the complaint, and that he hadn’t intended to go inside. He said he was only in the building for 5 to 10 minutes, according to the complaint.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is working closely with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to identify those residents of Western Pennsylvania who violated federal law in our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6,” said Scott Brady, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “The charges announced today against Jorden Mink and Matthew Perna are the result of this collaboration. Together with our federal, state and local partners, we will ensure that our community is safe from those who would incite or commit further violent acts. Such criminal activity will be met with swift justice.”