Image by Richard Burton from Pixabay 

November 9, 2023 - WASHINGTON — An Indiana man was arrested today on felony charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Troy Allen Koen, 53, of Brownsburg, Indiana, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, destruction of government property, and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. In addition to the felonies, Koen is charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building without lawful authority, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, obstructing or impeding passage through or within the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings, and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            Koen was arrested today in Indianapolis and is expected to make his initial appearance today in the Southern District of Indiana.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Koen repeatedly assaulted law enforcement officers guarding the U.S. Capitol, destroyed property, and participated in the assault against law enforcement officers inside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, the site of some of the most violent attacks against police that day.

            Court documents state that on January 6th, Koen marched to the Capitol and made his way to the very front of the large crowd of rioters on the Northwest side of the West Plaza. As the police struggled to keep the mob contained, Koen approached the police line. He grabbed a protective bike rack with his hands and aggressively yanked the barricade away from the officers. A violent struggle ensued between the police officers and the rioters as the two sides fought to gain control of the barrier. The rioters successfully removed the bike rack, creating a major vulnerability in the police line, and passed the barricade back into the crowd and away from the police officers.

            After Koen and others removed the first barricade, Koen reapproached the police line and took hold of another barricade. A second struggle ensued between the police officers and the rioters. Police officers used their physical strength, batons, and chemical irritants in an attempt to prevent the rioters from removing the barricades. Still, Koen and his fellow rioters ultimately overpowered the officers. During the altercation, a police officer was knocked forward and dragged down onto the ground. The mob successfully overran the police line. The police officers retreated to the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the center of the terrace.

            Koen then approached the Tunnel holding a large, white pole with two flags attached. One flag said “TRUMP 2020” and the other was a Confederate flag. The officers had retreated into the Tunnel through two sets of double glass doors. At 2:41 p.m., almost immediately after the doors were secured, rioters—Koen included—flooded into the Tunnel.

            With the flagpole in hand, Koen made his way through the crowd and to the front of the pack of rioters who were at the doors.

            Officers barricaded their bodies inside the Tunnel behind the second set of doors. Koen raised his flagpole and violently jabbed it into the glass. The glass door shattered as Koen continued to smash his flagpole through it, which allowed the rioters to reach through the broken glass and open the door.

            Koen then disassembled the flagpole into two separate pieces. The rioters immediately started to push against the officer line. Koen remained at the forefront of the group and quickly started to use the flagpoles to assault officers by jabbing the flagpoles into the police line.

            While Koen was in the Tunnel, rioters continued their violent attack, using their collective body weight to push against the police line, strike the officers with batons and flag poles, and spray chemical irritants at the officers.

            At 2:47 p.m., Koen left the Tunnel.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Source: DOJ Release