NJ Capitol Rioter Pleads Guilty To Officer Assault Charge, 6 Others

MANTUA TOWNSHIP, NJ — A South Jersey man admitted to pushing a barricade into police officers during the riots at the U.S. Capitol last January, court records show.

Philip S. Young, of Sewell, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to all seven charges against him, records show. He faced felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with officers during a civil disorder and five related misdemeanors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Young, 60, drove to Washington, D.C. from his home in Sewell on January 6, 2021, court records show. He was one of several people who used a bicycle rack as a barricade against several officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, court documents show.

Video from police body cameras shows Young and other protesters on the steps near the Upper West Terrace shouting at officers from behind a barricade, records show. Young is seen running up the steps to help a group that picks up one of the barricades and pushes it into the line of officers, according to records. Camera footage shows him putting his hand on the metal barricade and engaging the officers, officials said.

He was "briefly successful" at getting past the barricade before MPD officers sprayed him with a chemical irritant and pushed him back, records show.

Young was wearing a jacket with a Boilermakers Union Local 28 logo, which helped federal officials identify him. He was also wearing a distinctive American flag head covering, officials said.

He was also seen letting the air out of tires on a black U.S. government vehicle, according to court records. A photo of Young doing this circulated on Twitter, officials said. The FBI released the photo and one showing the bandana/head covering and asked for the public's help identifying him.

Witnesses identified Young as a retired member of the union and provided federal agents with his home address, according to court records. Investigators obtained phone records from Young's wife's phone, which "was identified as having utilized a cell site consistent with providing service to a geographic area that includes the interior of the U.S. Capitol building," records show.

He was arrested August 19, 2021 in Sewell according to the Department of Justice.

According to the Department of Justice, Young faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison and maximum fine of $250,000 for the assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers charge and a maximum of five years in prison and maximum fine of $250,000 for the civil disorder charge. He would also be subject to supervised release, documents show.

The charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds have a maximum prison sentence of one year and a maximum fine of $100,000, according to records.

The charges of disorderly conduct in a capitol building and act of physical violence in the capitol grounds or building carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison, and a fine not to exceed $5,000, records show.