HANCOCK COUNTY — Two men with ties to Greenfield are facing federal charges associated with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Israel David Tutrow, 22, Greenfield; and Joshua Wagner, a current Greenwood resident, have been accused of unlawfully entering the Capitol during the uprising, federal court documents state. Wagner surrendered Tuesday, Jan. 26, after seeing his photo on a FBI wanted poster. A warrant has been issued for Tutrow’s arrest.
The two men are facing a variety of federal charges:
Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds
Disorderly conduct which impedes the conduct of government business
Disruptive conduct in the Capitol Buildings
Parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol Buildings.
The most serious charges are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
According to a complaint filed in support of the charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a witness said Wagner and Tutrow traveled together to Washington, D.C., to participate in the rally for Donald Trump on Jan. 6, the day Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College vote in the presidential election. A witness who knows both men and talked to the FBI said it was unclear whether either man had any affiliation with hate groups, but that Wagner “vehemently opposes” Joe Biden as president.
The report notes Wagner and Tutrow are former high school classmates. Tutrow went to Greenfield-Central High School before transferring, while Wagner is listed as a 2016 G-CHS graduate but was most recently living in Greenwood. The district confirmed Wednesday that both men had attended G-C.
The complaint, which lists both Wagner and Tutrow as defendants, accuses them of being inside the Capitol on the day hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the building to disrupt the final, largely ceremonial act by the House and Senate to count electoral votes and declare Joe Biden the winner of the election. Five people died in violent clashes that ensued, including an officer for the Capitol Police and a protester who was shot by a security officer.
The two men were identified from images recorded during the riot with the help of witnesses who know the men. The images show men identified as Wagner and Tutrow among a throng of people inside the Capitol.
Both were featured on “Be On the Look Out” messages issued by the FBI to assist in the identification of individuals involved in the Capitol siege. Law enforcement was able to pick Tutrow out of the hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol due to his facial hair and distinctive facial tattoos, the complaint states.
The court documents state Wagner, through an attorney, reached out to authorities on Jan. 9 after seeing himself on the wanted posters, and Tutrow soon was identified as “Wagner’s associate.”
According to the federal court filing, Tutrow and Wagner later had misgivings about being associated with the riot, during which the mob attacked police officers and raided congressional offices and the floors of the House and Senate after lawmakers had escaped.
Tutrow messaged a person indicating he was “sick with anxiety following the riot at the U.S. Capitol.”
Wagner later said he was “very scared and worried,” after being identified on the FBI’s digital wanted poster, according to the complaint, which also documents a series of communications involving the two men that day.
A third Indiana man, Jon Ryan Schaffer, 52, of Edinburgh, also faces charges in the riot, including engaging in an act of physical violence and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry. He’s being held in Marion County.
They are among about 150 people who have been charged so far in connection with the Capitol siege. Because many participants flaunted their participation on social media and/or captured images of others during the insurrection, federal agents have been building a visual gallery of suspects and fanning out across the country to arrest them.
In the past few weeks, the FBI has received more than 200,000 photos and video tips related to the riot. Investigators have put up billboards in several states with photos of wanted rioters. Working on tips from co-workers, acquaintances and friends, agents have tracked down driver’s license photos to match their faces with those captured on camera in the building. In some cases, authorities got records from Facebook or Twitter to connect their social media accounts to their email addresses or phone numbers. In others, agents used records from license plate readers to confirm their travels.
“Some of you have recognized that this was such an egregious incident that you’ve turned in your own friends and family members,” Steven D’Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington office, said of the tipsters on Tuesday, Jan. 26. “We know that those decisions are often painful, but you picked up the phone because it’s the right thing to do.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
