Capitol riot suspect who bragged about macing cops, posed for pictures with Trump allies has been charged with assault

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Capitol riot suspect who bragged about macing cops, posed for pictures with Trump allies has been charged with assault
Accused Capitol rioter Samuel Lazar has been charged with federal crimes, including assaulting officers. Provided by the Department of Justice
  • A 35-year-old Pennsylvania man has been charged with assaulting officers at the Capitol riot.
  • Video cited in a federal complaint against Samuel Lazar shows him brag about macing police officers.
  • Lazar was photographed at a Rudy Giuliani event while on the FBI's wanted list, HuffPost previously reported.
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A 35-year-old Capitol rioter who bragged about macing cops and had posed with politicians promoting false election fraud claims while on the FBI's wanted list has been charged with assault.

A federal complaint shows Samuel Lazar, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, was photographed and recorded extensively while parading around the US Capitol building on January 6 in tactical gear and face paint. He was arrested Monday.

Prosecutors say that Lazar was caught on video approaching a police barricade on the west side of the building and aiming a canister of chemical irritant at US Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers. When he was told to get back, police deployed chemical irritant in his direction and he "redeployed" his own canister, according to the complaint.

"They maced us, those tyrannical pieces of s***, and we maced them right the f*** back and now they're taking the building," Lazar said in one video, which was cited in the complaint.

Lazar is charged with federal offenses including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder.

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It wasn't immediately clear whether Lazar has retained a lawyer. He is expected to make his initial court appearance Tuesday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Capitol riot suspect who bragged about macing cops, posed for pictures with Trump allies has been charged with assault
Prosecutors say Lazar maced officers at the Capitol riot. Provided by the DOJ

More than two months before he was arrested, and while he was wanted by the FBI, Lazar reportedly attended a political event that was headlined by Rudy Giuliani. Once a personal lawyer for former president Donald Trump, Giuliani was among those leading the charge in spreading misinformation about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

HuffPost published photos from the event of Lazar posing with Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, whose campaign paid to bus people to Washington, DC on the day of the insurrection. Mastriano, too, backed the election-fraud conspiracy theory and called for a "forensic investigation" into the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.

HuffPost also reported that Lazar posed with Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, right-wing state congressional candidate Teddy Daniels, and other politicians that day.

Messages seeking comment left for Mastriano, Borowicz, and Daniels were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

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More than 535 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states in connection with the Capitol breach.

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