Florida Leads Nation In Number Arrested In U.S. Capitol Siege

ZEPHYRHILLS, FL — With last week's arrest of a Zephyrhills man, Florida now has the distinction of having the most residents in the country accused of taking part in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Steven Miles, 39, is accused of assaulting law enforcement officers during the civil disorder at the Capitol that disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of counting electoral votes for the presidential election.

In the 15 months since the breach, nearly 800 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states, including more than 250 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Of those arrested, 83 have been identified as Florida residents. The state with the next-highest numbers of residents arrested at the Capitol is Texas with 70, followed by Pennsylvania with 65. Click here for the list of people arrested.

In the latest criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Miles was charged with assaulting officers, civil disorder and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building.

He was arrested in Zephyrhills and made his initial appearance Wednesday in the Middle District of Florida. He was released pending further court proceedings in the District of Columbia.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, Miles marched with a group to the Capitol, eventually making his way to the restricted grounds of the west front of the building. There, he and other rioters confronted police officers who were protecting the Capitol, authorities said, and Miles is accused of shoving and attempting to punch police officers.

According to the FBI's investigation, Miles then made his way up the staircase to the upper west terrace of the Capitol. At 2:13 p.m., Miles and other rioters are seen on closed-circuit video cameras on the Capitol building in a window on one of the Senate Wing doors, allowing a handful of people to enter the building through the broken window, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Miles and other rioters continued to smash the window on the other side of the Senate Wing door, authorities said. The FBI said it has obtained video showing Miles smashing a plank of wood into the window and then entering through that broken window. He briefly walked through the building and then exited through another door, the FBI said.

A co-defendant, Matthew LeBrun, 33, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was arrested Wednesday on related misdemeanor charges.

According to the complaint, Miles and LeBrun were seen at a rally just before the the breach with three other Tampa Bay men who were indicted Feb. 9 — Alan Fischer III, 28, of Tampa; Zachary Johnson, 33, of St. Petersburg; and Dion Rajewski, 61, of Largo.

FBI agents said they were able to identify Miles and LeBrun from photographs and videos taken at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

In one of the photos, Miles is seen wearing a red "Make America Great Again" baseball hat, a tan camouflage jacket with a patch that reads “Miles” on the left sleeve, navy gloves, camouflage pants, a backpack and tan boots, the FBI said.

In another video and photographs from that day, Miles is seen wearing a black shirt with the words, "Trump 2020 F... Your Feelings" underneath his tan camouflage jacket as well as black fingerless gloves, the FBI said.

Leading up to the attack on the Capitol, the FBI said, Miles and Lebrun were frequently seen with a small group of people including Johnson, who wore a long-sleeved camouflage shirt with a patch that read “Infidel” on the left sleeve and “White” on the right sleeve, a tactical vest, jeans, black gloves, an olive-green balaclava and a black baseball cap; Rajewski, who wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, brown gloves, a multi-colored mask and a black baseball cap that read “Once a Marine Always a Marine” on the front; and Fischer, who wore dark sunglasses, a black zip-up jacket and a gray hooded sweatshirt.

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