FAYETTEVILLE -- A Bentonville man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Nathan Earl Hughes, 34, of 10271 Arkansas 264 West, is charged in the District of Columbia with civil disorder, a felony.
Hughes is also charged with misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Hughes was arrested Wednesday in Fayetteville and made his initial appearance Thursday in the Western District of Arkansas.
Video footage obtained from law enforcement depicting the events at the Capitol shows Hughes was present in the vicinity of the Lower West Terrace tunnel for at least an hour, according to court documents.
Court documents say Hughes pushed against the police line in the tunnel and helped other rioters physically fight police in an attempt to breach the line and enter the Capitol. Hughes was at the mouth of the tunnel and signaled the crowd of rioters to follow him. After signaling to the crowd, Hughes entered the tunnel and charged toward the police line, according to the news release.
Inside the tunnel, Hughes continued to signal others to enter and confront police.
Hughes assisted the mob with forcefully removing police riot shields and passing them out of the tunnel to other rioters, according to the news release.
As Hughes was being forced out of the tunnel, he was seen using his elbow to strike in the direction of police, according to the news release.
After he was pushed out of the tunnel, Hughes remained in the vicinity for at least 90 minutes, encouraging other rioters.
The 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. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas.
Hughes is the latest person from Northwest Arkansas to be charged in the riot.
Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette, 63, began serving his sentence of 4½ years Aug. 1 at a low-security federal prison in Oakdale, La.
In January, a federal court jury in the District of Columbia found Barnett guilty on all eight charges filed against him -- four felonies and four misdemeanors.
Barnett faced enhanced charges for taking a dangerous weapon -- a stun gun -- into the Capitol during the riot.
Barnett is famous for posing for photos with his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office suite during the Capitol riot.
Brennen Cline Machacek, 33, of Hindsville is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 7 in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Machacek pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a government building. He was initially charged by criminal complaint with violating four federal laws. He also agreed to pay $500 in restitution.
Ron Wood can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWARDW.
A photo taken of rioters in the Lower West Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, is believed to show Nathan Earl Hughes of Northwest Arkansas. The photo is included in Hughes' Statement of Facts as "Figure 4," and the man whose image was circled in the photo was identified as Hughes. A statement reads, "Immediately after signaling the crowd into the tunnel, HUGHES charged inside and towards the line of police officers who were blocking the rioters' passage through the tunnel and into the Capitol." (Courtesy photos)
A photo taken of Nathan Earl Hughes of Northwest Arkansas is shown with a photo of a rioter outside the Lower West Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. A side-by-side comparison of the two photos is used in Hughes' Statement of Facts as "Figure 18" and "Figure 1a" to argue that the shape of Hughes' ears helped to identify him as "the person who engaged in violence at the Lower West Tunnel on January 6, 2021, at the Capitol." (Courtesy photos)