December 19, 2024 – WASHINGTON – A Virginia man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and other charges related to his alleged conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged 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.
Steve Elijah Johnson, Jr., 47, of Dry Fork, Va., is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; and obstruction of law enforcement officers during a civil disorder.
In addition to felony charges, Johnson is also charged with misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and engaging in an act of physical violence within the Capitol building or grounds.
The FBI arrested Johnson on December 18, 2024, in Roanoke, Va.
According to court documents, in June 2021, the FBI identified a man who allegedly interfered with multiple law enforcement officers at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The man’s actions included grabbing an officer’s baton. The man was labeled BOLO 410-AFO. His image was posted on the FBI’s website with images from police body-worn cameras (BWC) captured by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from January 6, 2021.
On September 6, 2022, the FBI interviewed Johnson. During the interview, Johnson confirmed that he was at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The FBI showed Johnson multiple photographs. Johnson identified himself in the photographs and said he had also seen them on the FBI’s website.
A law enforcement review of video and photographic evidence shows Johnson on January 6, 2021, as he breached a line of uniformed officers on the West Front of the Capitol building. Johnson pushed through the police line as one of the first rioters in this section to breach the line of uniformed officers in front of the U.S. Capitol on the Capitol grounds.
BWC footage captured by several officers located on the police line depicts Johnson pushing against officers and through the police line, then being pushed back. At approximately 2:27 p.m., BWC from multiple officers shows Johnson grabbing an MPD officer dressed in riot gear by the collar of her uniform while grabbing her baton at the same time. At 2:28 p.m., Johnson was pushed back off of the MPD officer, but Johnson then reached forward again to grab her baton—this time grabbing it with both hands. At that point, Johnson was briefly detained by other MPD officers before they were forced to retreat back toward the Capitol building as the police line was overrun by the crowd.
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 Western District of Virginia.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Richmond and Washington Field Offices which identified Johnson as AFO (Assault on Federal Officer) BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #410 on its seeking information images. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 47 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,572 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Attachment: johnsonsteven_signed_24-mj-386_sof_redacted.pdf [PDF, 3 MB]
Source & photos: DOJ Release
