A Michigan man has been taken into custody by the FBI for allegedly hitting a law enforcement officer with a hockey stick during the U.S. Capitol breach earlier this month, authorities said.
Michael Joseph Foy, a 29-year-old man from Detroit who is currently residing in Westland, was arrested on Thursday and is facing five charges related to his taking part in the Jan. 6 incident in Washington, according to a criminal complaint (pdf).
The suspect was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on federal charges that include knowingly entering restricted grounds without lawful authority, obstruction of law enforcement; assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating or interfering with an officer; and aiding and abetting, obstructing, impeding any official proceeding of Congress, FBI Detroit announced on Twitter.
A Wixom man has been arrested by #FBIDetroit on charges related to the violence at the US Capitol on January 6th. @FBIWFO @USAO_DC https://t.co/0nVYM3GUn1 pic.twitter.com/fLIA1DOKjO
— FBI Detroit (@FBIDetroit) January 21, 2021
Foy was seen carrying a hockey stick in a photograph, which was shared as a tip by an unidentified source to the FBI. The image was captioned: “This is the man that killed the police officer. He hit him with a hockey-stick over and over in the head.”
The Capitol Police Officer who was killed on Jan. 6 “while physically engaging with protesters” and being reportedly struck with a fire extinguisher is Brian Sicknick. Authorities stressed that there is no evidence that Foy killed any officer.
According to the complaint, the FBI conducted open-source research to work towards identifying the alleged suspect seen in the tip’s provided photograph.
“Several additional photographs were identified from various online sources,” the complaint reads. “These photographs indicated that the same individual, carrying a hockey stick, had been present both outside and inside the Capitol.”
Following further investigation, federal officials were able to identify Foy by tracing his driver’s license records while also obtaining another video of him wearing the exact same clothing as the man in the tip’s provided photograph and also carrying a hockey stick.
Officials reviewed Foy’s Facebook account by using the name of the driver’s license and found a picture of him dated Jan. 6, wearing the same clothes as in the photograph with a hockey stick.
“The post has a photograph of a male, dressed in the same clothing and carrying a hockey stick with a Trump flag draped from it, similar to that carried by the male in the aforementioned video and pictures,” the complaint reads.
In footage obtained by the FBI, Foy was seen “striking an individual on the ground several times,” with the victim at no point acting aggressively towards him, officials said.
On Jan. 17, officials obtained a video from another angle that depicts Foy beating a Metropolitan Police Officer who was knocked to the ground and then dragged into a crowd of rioters.
“This attack continues for approximately 16 seconds until FOY is knocked down by another rioter,” according to the complaint. “At that time, Foy circles back through the crowd, lowers his hood, which reveals a clear image of his face.”
A few minutes later in the video, Foy is seen raising his hockey stick high above his head and starts to influence others by shouting in what appears to be “Let’s Go,” while pointing towards the U.S. Capitol building, FBI officials said. He then starts to crawl “through a broken window” into the building.
Dozens of people have been arrested for participating in the unrest on Jan. 6. The storming of the capital has been widely condemned by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
From NTD News
