Ahead of the January 6 Capitol Assault Hearings, a look at Chicago-area participants charged in the attack
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Capitol Attack on January 6, 2021 is already the largest criminal investigation in American history with over 800 defendants charged.
Including 21 from the Chicago area.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports on the growing list of arrests and charges. The most recent arrests? Two women from Elmhurst. The were taken into custody, last week.
They are Trudy Castle and Kimberley DiFrancesco. The image of the Elmhurst women was taken from surveillance video inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Their cases are pending.
"They're just trying to make me a super bad guy, and that's just not the truth."
Athanasios Zoyganeles was arrested in January. The 44-year-old from Chicago was seen in numerous video clips at the attack on the U.S. Capitol and in several photos on social media, including some Zoyganeles posted himself.
He insisted, he didn't do anything wrong.
"I was with the people and I went up to the Capitol. Went to the door and then I left."
The FBI found video of Zoyganeles standing outside the Parliamentarian Doors in the Capitol and going through them. His case is pending.
There are 21 defendants from Chicago and approximately 10 from other parts of the state.
"We think, I think, holistically about Illinois as a quote unquote blue state."
North Central College political science professor Stephen Caliendo said many taking part in the attack held the belief perpetuated by President Donald Trump that ordinary Americans weren't getting a fair shake.
"The larger narrative was government doesn't work. Washington is full of elites. It doesn't care about regular people like me," Caliendo said.
One of the first arrested in the Chicago area, was Bradley Rukstales of Inverness. The day he was charged, he was fired from his CEO job at a Schaumburg-based tech company.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I regret my part in that," Rukstales said.
He was accused of throwing a chair down a flight of stairs Capitol Police were using. He plead guilty, was sentenced to 30 days in prison and paid a $500 fine.
The January 6th Committee is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans. One of the Republicans is Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger.