Kentucky man attacked cops with a fire extinguisher during the Capitol riot, FBI says
A Covington man allegedly assaulted police with a fire extinguisher and breached the U.S. Capitol building during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, according to the FBI.
Northern Kentucky resident Nicholas James Brockhoff was arrested Thursday in Tennessee by agents from the FBI Memphis office. He was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; use of a deadly or dangerous weapon; and obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder.
An FBI agent wrote in an affidavit that Brockhoff was among a group of rioters who climbed scaffolding on the lower West terrace of the Capitol. While on the scaffolding, Brockhoff sprayed officers below him with the fire extinguisher. The contents of the extinguisher caused vision problems for the officers and forced them to disperse.
The officers who got sprayed were members of the Washington, D.C. Metro Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police. They were trying to hold off rioters from the Capitol building, according to the affidavit. Brockhoff spraying them with the extinguisher “impeded” them from being able to carry out their duties, an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit.
Brockhoff was then spotted in surveillance video climbing into the Capitol building, according to the affidavit.
Brockhoff was also spotted on bodycam footage wearing a metro police officer’s helmet, according to the affidavit. He allegedly told officers who confronted him that he “just found it on the ground.”
While still wearing the helmet, Brockhoff was allegedly seen on camera forcing his way into a Republican conference room inside the Capitol, according to the affidavit.
During an exchange with officers, which was caught on bodycam, Brockhoff allegedly revealed his name. The exchange was detailed in the FBI’s affidavit.
“A MPD officer asks Brockhoff, ‘What’s your name?’ Brockhoff responds, ‘Nick.’ The officer then asks, ‘Nick what?’ Brockhoff replies, ‘Brockhoff.’”
In other footage from the riot, Brockhoff appears to have cuts on his hands. He allegedly told officers he got hurt from the glass on broken windows, according to the affidavit.
The FBI reviewed records of vehicles driven by Brockhoff and members of his immediate family to confirm that he went to the Washington, D.C., area on Jan. 6, according to the affidavit. The FBI also confirmed Brockhoff’s identity by providing photos of him at the riot to someone who knew Brockhoff personally for five years.
Brockhoff is at least the 15th Kentucky resident to be arrested for allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to federal data and prior Herald-Leader reporting.
The riot started as a rally in support of former President Donald Trump but descended into mayhem at the Capitol building as participants attempted to stop certification of 2020 election results because they thought the election had been stolen despite court rulings to the contrary, reassurances from the U.S. attorney general, debunked examples and no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Brockhoff remained in federal custody after his arrest Thursday. He was expected to make his first appearance in federal court in the Western District of Tennessee Thursday, FBI officials said.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 12:56 PM.