A Navy sailor was on an aircraft carrier in Virginia when he allegedly joined a crowd to storm the U.S. Capitol, according to documents filed in court on Monday.
A court document states that David Elizalde was detained by the FBI on Sunday in Arlington, Virginia on misdemeanor charges involving disruptive conduct in a Capitol building.
On January 6, 2021, Elizalde went alone from Norfolk, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. to attend the "Stop the Steal" event. He lied to the FBI and said he was stationed on the USS Harry S. Truman. The 2020 congressional certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory was interrupted by a mob led by supporters of the then-president, Donald Trump, who addressed the gathering before the attack.
A man matching Elizalde's description was captured on camera entering and exiting the Capitol through the Senate wing doors around three minutes apart while carrying a flag. After being told to leave by a police officer, Elizalde claims he stepped outside "to observe the scene for a little while because he knew something historic was happening," as the FBI put it.
A representative for the Navy's Office of Information confirmed that Elizalde, an aviation structural mechanic, was an active-duty sailor on the day of the Capitol incident. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was the aircraft carrier where the Texas native served when he enlisted in the Navy in June 2007.
In December of 2021, federal agents met with Elizalde at a Naval Criminal Investigative Service office on Naval Station Rota in Rota, Spain. According to his Navy documents, he reported for duty in Spain on January 22nd, 2021.
After being submitted under seal in February, the complaint against Elizalde was finally released to the public on Monday.
Elizalde's lawyer was not readily identifiable in online court documents.
About a thousand people have been arrested and charged with federal offences following the disturbance on January 6. While many of them have served in the armed forces, only a handful were serving at the time of the attack on the Capitol.
The first serving member of the military to face charges related to the disturbance was a Marine Corps officer. In May 2021, Woodbridge, Virginia native Maj. Christopher Warnagiris was arrested and charged with assaulting a Capitol police officer. In January, three more active-duty Marines were arrested and charged with taking part in the riot.
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