SAN ANTONIO – A 26-year-old San Antonio man is facing five charges in connection with his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
The Department of Justice said FBI agents arrested Steven Hassel on Wednesday in San Antonio and made a court appearance before the Western District of Texas.
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According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, Hassel has been charged with obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, which is a felony.
Hassel’s four other charges are considered misdemeanors, according to the complaint: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.
The FBI opened up an investigation into Hassel in Jan. 2021 after the agency received information that he unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the complaint stated.
The court said it obtained flight and hotel records showing Hassel, along with two family members, traveled from El Paso, Texas, to Washington’s Capitol Hill Hotel between Jan. 4, 2021, and Jan. 8, 2021.
Documents show that Hassel traveled to Washington with two uncles. One of them was identified as David Arredondo, while the other was only identified as “S.A.” in the criminal complaint.
Arredondo, who is from El Paso, pleaded guilty to eight federal charges as part of a plea agreement earlier this year in connection with the Jan. 2021 insurrection. According to the El Paso Times, Arredondo was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
With the help of surveillance cameras at their hotel and at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Hassel was able to be identified by investigators as wearing the same light gray pants, black jacket and black backpack with a red trim, the complaint stated.
According to U.S. Capitol police’s surveillance footage, Hassel was one of several others captured removing a bike rack barrier from its original spot that allowed a crowd of people to move closer to the U.S. Capitol’s East Plaza and later waved others to join him closer to the U.S. Capitol.
Later, Hassel and others in the crowd overpowered a line of police officers and entered the U.S. Capitol’s rotunda around 3 p.m. Washington time, the affidavit stated.
Surveillance footage inside the U.S. Capitol indicated that Hassel traveled upstairs and entered a hallway filled with congressional offices, including the office of then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
The criminal complaint stated that Hassel exited the U.S. Capitol around 3:17 p.m. Washington time.
The DOJ said, to date, approximately 1,500 people have been charged for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Hassel’s next court date is not yet known.