Navy Veteran, Cops Among VA Residents Charged In Capitol Riots

WASHINGTON, DC — Federal authorities are continuing to investigate hundreds of people in connection with the deadly pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Many of the defendants are current or former police officers and members of the military. Some defendants are accused of bringing weapons to Capitol Hill. Others were photographed ransacking the building. Many are charged with unlawful entry or violent entry.

In Virginia, at least 11 people have been arrested so far in connection with the riots, a database from the Program on Extremism at George Washington University shows. Among the most notable Virginia residents charged in the insurrection are two police officers and a Navy veteran with alleged ties to the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia organization.

Here are the Virginia residents who have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Thomas Caldwell, Berryville

Caldwell, of Clarke County, must remain in jail until his trial because he “represents not just a danger to the community but to the fabric of democracy,” a federal judge ruled Feb. 12. Caldwell is charged with conspiring with member of the Oath Keepers to assault the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors are accusing Caldwell, 66, of planning anti-government activities with members of the extremist militant group, dating back to the aftermath of the November election. Among other things, he is alleged to have explored plans to bring weapons into Washington, D.C., using pickup trucks or boats to transport them across the Potomac River at a critical moment.

Caldwell, a Navy veteran who worked for the FBI from 2009 to 2010, has been held at the Central Virginia Regional Correctional Facility in Orange since he was arrested at his home on Jan. 19.

According to the Washington Post, Caldwell began coordinating with the Oath Keepers soon after the election. He hosted members at his Virginia home in Clarke County for a Nov. 14 pro-Trump protest in Washington that turned violent, prosecutors alleged.

“Next time (and there WILL be a next time) we will have learned and we will be stronger,” Caldwell said in a message to others after the meeting, according to court documents. “I think there will be real violence for all of us next time. . . . I am already working on the next D.C. op.”

Caldwell attracted praise from Del. Dave LaRock, a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates who represents western Loudoun County as well as Clarke and Frederick Counties.

"Tom is a wonderful man. He and Sharon have been very supportive of me," said LaRock, who represents Virginia's 33rd District, which includes parts of Clarke, Frederick and Loudoun counties. "Tom has served our country in a long and distinguished career in the U.S. military. I think very highly of Tom and Sharon."

LaRock attended the Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally in D.C. but said he did not enter the U.S. Capitol.

Dennis Sidorski, Ashburn

The FBI was informed of a screenshot on Twitter showing Sidorski inside the Capitol building wearing a black sweatshirt with “American Supremacist” on the front.

Court documents state that Sidorski, 46, was identified by two former employees from video footage taken in the Capitol. A person who claimed to have worked with Sidorski at ADESA Washington, D.C., a vehicle auction company in the Dulles area, “from sometime in 2016 until April 2020” also informed the FBI they received the same video showing a man inside the Capitol with the “American Supremacist” sweatshirt.

Sidorski was charged with four counts related to violent entry into the restricted grounds of the Capitol, CNN reported.

Edward Hemenway, Winchester

Hemenway told federal investigators that he entered the U.S. Capitol out of “curiosity” and “stupidity.”

“He [Hemenway] also knew that Vice President Pence was going to announce the Electoral College vote,” court documents signed by an FBI special agent said. “HEMENWAY said that he knows being inside the U.S. Capitol under those circumstances was wrong.”

On Jan. 7, a tip came into the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center claiming that Robert Bauer, Hemenway’s cousin, posted photos inside the Capitol after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally. Bauer told FBI agents on Jan. 8 that he and his wife traveled from Kentucky to Winchester to stay with Hemenway from Jan. 1 to Jan. 5 ahead of the rally.

Hemenway pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on Friday, Feb. 12.

HuffPost reported Feb. 10 that Hemenway was released from prison in 2013 after serving five years on rape, sexual battery and criminal confinement charges. According to court records, Hemenway lured his estranged wife to a hotel in 2004 where he handcuffed her and duct-taped her mouth shut.

Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, Rocky Mount

Fracker and Robertson, two Rocky Mount Police Department officers, were off duty when they entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to FBI documents.

In social media posts, Robertson is quoted as saying, “CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business ... The right IN ONE DAY took the f***** U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.”

Robertson also stated that he was “proud” of the photo in an Instagram Post that was shared to Facebook, because he was “willing to put skin in the game,” according to the FBI documents.

Following their arrests for their alleged part in the insurrection, Robertson and Fracker were both fired by the police department.

Robert Keith Packer, Newport News

Media coverage of the events identified Packer, a Newport News man with a full gray beard who was seen in footage wearing a sweatshirt with the words “CAMP AUSCHWITZ” outside and inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. His sweatshirt also had a skull on it with the text “WORK BRINGS FREEDOM” underneath, according to an FBI affidavit.

Nazis killed more than 1 million people at Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Germany, in a five-year span during World War II. The death camp’s gate read, “Arbeit mact frei,” which translates in English to “work makes freedom,” the FBI affidavit states.

According to court documents, Packer was arrested by FBI on Jan. 13 in Norfolk on a warrant out of the District of Columbia.

Authorities confirmed Packer’s identification by comparing photos of him on Jan. 6 to his driver’s license picture and through a cooperating witness who said they recognized him as a regular at a store near Newport News.

Jacob Hiles, Virginia Beach

On Jan. 15, three charges were filed against Hiles with Matador Charters, a Virginia Beach charter fishing company. Court documents show numerous Facebook posts, selfies, and videos connecting to Hiles to events at and inside the Capitol, according to court documents.

Visible in the photographs and videos collected by the FBI is a bearded man identified as Hiles wearing a dark in color sweatshirt bearing the words “F*** ANTIFA,” a tan in color neck gaiter, baseball cap, and tan in color goggles, according to an FBI affidavit.

Jonathan Gennaro Mellis, Williamsburg

Mellis was arrested and taken into custody this week at his home in Williamsburg, according to reports. The 34-year-old was seen on police body-worn camera footage among a crowd of rioters using sticks and other items as weapons to assault police officers protecting the building.

“Another video retrieved by law enforcement of that altercation clearly shows MELLIS’ actions, and even further captures MELLIS repeatedly striking and making stabbing movements towards the officers with the weapon in his hand. MELLIS appears to be making at contact or attempting to strike the officers’ necks between their helmets and body-armor where they are not protected,” according to an FBI affidavit.

Mellis is being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk and is scheduled for a remote bond hearing on Friday in the U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

Douglas Sweet and Cindy Fitchett, Matthews County

Sweet and Fitchett, of Matthews County were charged with refusing to leave the Capitol after entering the building on Jan. 6.

The pair were among six individuals positioned toward the front of a crowd close to Capitol Police Officers who were responding to the rioters, a Capitol Police officer said in a statement of fact.

“The six individuals, like others in the larger crowd, willfully refused the order to leave,” the police officer said. “The six individuals, Cindy Fitchett, Michael Curzio, Douglas Sweet, Terry Brown, Bradley Rukstales, and Thomas Gallgher, were removed from the crowd, placed in handcuffs, and arrested. Subsequently, Cindy Fitchett, Michael Curzio, Douglas Sweet, Terry Brown, Bradley Rukstales, and Thomas Gallgher were all issued Citations to Appear in the District of Columbia Superior Court on a later date.”

Melody Steele-Smith, Gloucester

On Jan. 8, law enforcement received a tip online that Steele-Smith, of Gloucester, posted photos from inside the Capitol on her personal Facebook page. Authorities identified Steele-Smith by reviewing surveillance footage and comparing her Facebook photos to her driver’s license.

According to an an FBI affidavit, Steele-Smith posted photos and videos outside the Capitol, with one claiming to be inside the office of House Speaker Pelosi.

“A review of online footage and photos of Nancy Pelosi’s office by law enforcement agents confirms that the posted photos do indeed appear to be photos of her office,” the FBI affidavit says. “Additional photos and posts to STEELE-SMITH’s Facebook account include a post stating, ‘We’ve stormed the castle.’”

On her Facebook page, the FBI found a conversation in which Steele-Smith stated: "I was there. I'm trying to figure out how I could be there all day and miss all this violence and destruction I'm seeing on tv. I think photos for the news were staged. I hope they come for me my videos will show the peace and the lies on the news. We are all fools for believing the government and the news on either side."

Steele-Smith was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do and knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions.

On Feb. 12, Steele-Smith pleaded not guilty.