At least nine Marylanders were arrested in the riots at the U.S. Capitol, including a 33-year-old man facing charges for allegedly carrying a pistol and high-capacity magazine onto Capitol grounds.
D.C. police announced the arrests of about 70 people in all after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. Those arrested had traveled from Arizona, Oregon, Florida and other states, police said.
One Maryland man, 33-year-old Christopher Alberts, was arrested after he was seen carrying the pistol without a license and the high-capacity magazine, according to D.C. police. It’s illegal to carry guns onto the Capitol grounds.
According to federal court documents filed Thursday, an officer noticed a bulge on Alberts’ right hip as police were they were enforcing a 6 p.m. curfew ordered by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and moving people away from the Capitol building.
The officer was pushing Alberts past a line maintained by Metropolitan Police when he tapped on the bulge with his baton “and felt a hard object that I immediately recognized to be a firearm,” charging documents state. Alberts was also wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time, the officer wrote.
The officer then informed two other officers that Alberts had a firearm and Alberts, “apparently hearing that, immediately tried to flee,” but the three were able to detain him, federal court documents state.
Officers seized a 9mm handgun with one round in the chamber and twelve in the magazine, documents state. The officers also found an additional 12-round magazine, a gas mask and a backpack that contained a pocket knife, first-aid medical kit and “one packaged military meal-ready to eat (MRE).”
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Alberts has been charged in U.S. District Court in D.C. with violating federal laws that prohibit individuals from carrying firearms while on the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Alberts could not be reached for comment. No attorney is listed as representing him in online court documents.
Six of the Marylanders, two of them teenagers, were arrested for allegedly violating the curfew. Three of them also were charged with illegally entering the Capitol grounds.
District of Columbia officials did not provide addresses for any of the Maryland people arrested.
U.S. Capitol Police issued a separate list Thursday afternoon, saying that a Glenwood woman was charged with unlawful entry during the riot, while a Clarksburg man was charged with assaulting a police officer.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore said it is working to identify more people involved in the attack, and is asking the public for help.
“The attack on the U.S. Capitol was not only an attempt to overthrow the election and dismantle our democracy, it also constituted serious criminal conduct,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Lenzner said in a statement. “We will prosecute those who participated in this insurrection, and to that end we are urging the public to provide the FBI with any tips and digital images of perpetrators who were at the Capitol.”