Recalling that Congress and the Justice Department are each conducting their own investigations into the events surrounding last year’s Capitol attack, a criminal trial linked to the riots will begin Monday as the House select committee conducts its second in a series of hearings on its findings.
The trial — in the Federal District Court in Washington, just off Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol — involves a Delaware man named Kevin Seefried, who was widely seen in photos from the day of the attack with a Confederate battle flag in the building.
Mr. Seefried and his son Hunter were among the first wave of pro-Trump rioters to breach the Capitol and climb in through a broken Senate wing door that other assailants had just shattered. Both men have been charged with crimes including obstructing final certification of the presidential election that took place during a joint session of Congress on the day of the attack – January 6, 2021.
The trial — the eighth connected to the Capitol bombing — will for the first time include testimony from Officer Eugene Goodman, who was celebrated after the attack for leading the rioters away from lawmakers in the building. Agent Goodman is expected to testify about how some members of the mob the Seefrieds had joined yelled at him after breaking into the building and aggressively asking, “Where are the Senators?” and “Where are the votes counted?”
Prosecutors are also likely to introduce a recording of an interview Kevin Seefried gave to the FBI after the attack. In the interview, according to court papers, he admitted to threatening Officer Goodman, saying, “You can shoot me, man, but we’re coming.”
The trial will not be heard by a jury, but rather by Judge Trevor N. McFadden. In a previous trial, Judge McFadden acquitted a man on charges of illegal entry into the Capitol during the riot, alleging that police let him into the building.