NEW YORK — The Justice Department said Monday that it has charged two men with first-degree rioting following incidents that day, when David Vanden Heuvel, 21, and Preston Weber, 24, of Tompkinsville, S.I., were allegedly tied to two separate clashes at the Foggy Bottom subway station Jan. 6, 2018.
Vanden Heuvel is also charged with participating in a riot at the US Capitol building and its grounds after being accused of leading a group that climbed the steps and sang the “Pledge of Allegiance” on the north side of the Capitol.
In a news release announcing the arrests, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said that the complaint in the racketeering case contains explosive allegations and seeks forfeiture of Vanden Heuvel’s Volkswagen Passat, brandishing baseball bats. It cites a video showing Weber’s involvement in a fight in the subway.
Weber could not be reached for comment. An attorney for Vanden Heuvel said he could not immediately be reached.
Both men were involved in protests against the “Inauguration Day Protests of Donald J. Trump” on Jan. 20, according to the charges, including violence and other disruptive acts.
They were arrested in Virginia on April 30 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.