Argonne National Lab employee charged with attacking officers at Capitol on Jan. 6
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Argonne National Laboratory employee has been arrested on federal charges for assaulting police officers at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Robin Reierson, of Schiller Park, was arrested Wednesday morning, and made his first court appearance in federal court in Chicago. He was released on bond, and ordered to answer the charges in federal court in Washington, D.C. Information on his next court date was not immediately available.
Reierson has been charged with one count each of civil disorder, assaulting officers, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and physical violence in the Capitol Grounds.
According to the charges, Reierson was caught on video as he pushed against a metal barrier that police officers were holding in an effort to keep rioters out of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during a joint session of Congress to formalize the election of President Joe Biden.
Reierson also could be seen pushing officers with both hands, and lowering his shoulder into officers, before trying to grab an officer's baton. He also could be heard on YouTube videos telling other people in the crowd, "Don't stop, keep going. Put the cameras down, keep going."
The FBI received a tip a week after the riot that Reierson, an employee at Argonne National Laboratory, in southwest suburban Lemont, was involved in the attack on the Capitol.
It took until last October for local police to confirm Reierson's identity, and this past January and February, federal investigators conducted surveillance of his home, and confirmed he was the man in the videos.
The feds also obtained toll records showing Reierson's cargo van traveled through Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania on the day before and the day after the Capitol riot, as well as credit card records for gas purchases along the route between his home and D.C. on those days.
Personnel records from Argonne also confirmed he took vacation days from Jan. 5, 2021, through Jan. 8, 2021, according to the charges.
An Argonne spokesperson confirmed Reierson works there as a lead welder, and has been an employee at the laboratory for 40 years.