Two men from McLeansboro have been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to their conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.Justin LaGesse, 37, and Theodore Middendorf, 36, both of McLeansboro, are charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia for destruction of property after witnesses approached the FBI. LaGeese and Middendorf posted pictures on their personal Facebook accounts showing that they were, in fact, at the Capitol building taking part in the riot, with LaGesse commenting on his photo, “I made the cover of AP News on Youtube from my Washington trip.” FBI officials could identify the men with help from the witnesses that came forward.
LaGesse and Middendorf were arrested on Wednesday by the FBI in Illinois and will appear in the Southern District of Illinois.According to allegations contained in court documents, both men illegally entered the U.S. Capitol building through a broken window. LaGesse can be seen carrying a yellow Gadsden flag, and Middendorf carrying an American flag.
After parading through the Capitol, the men went outside and approached a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers yelling obscenities at them. The men then walked off to a window, using their flagpoles to strike the window numerous times, resulting in $41,315.25 in damages determined by the architect of the Capitol.
They are being charged in a criminal complaint filed by the District of Columbia with felony destruction of property. They also face misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physicalviolence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, picketing, and demonstrating in a Capitol building.The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case for the District of Columbia, the Departmentof Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for theSouthern District of Illinois. The investigation is being done by the FBI’s Springfield and Washington FieldOffices, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.
