Tally of Ohio residents charged in US Capitol breach up to 9

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man was arrested and accused of entering the U.S. Capitol after family members and a former coworker identified him in footage captured during the deadly insurrection last month, according to U.S. District Court documents.

Derek Jancart, 39, is the ninth Ohioan to be accused of joining a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump as they smashed their way into the U.S. Capitol. Five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, died in the Jan. 6 assault. Dozens of people have been arrested in the attack, which temporarily halted congressional business to confirm Joe Biden as president.

Jancart was charged Tuesday with violently entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, according to a complaint.

Federal agents first received a tip from a former coworker of Jancart regarding his alleged involvement days after the breach. A Facebook page with Jancart’s name had posted images from inside the Capitol building, specifically showing the exterior of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, with the caption, “We’re in.”

On Feb. 9, the same person identified Jancart in several photographs taken from police body cameras and Capitol Building surveillance during the attack, according to the complaint. The next day, the complaint states a family member of Jancart was interviewed by the FBI and confirmed his involvement in the Capitol breach through a series of text messages and by identifying him in photographs.

Jancart was arrested Tuesday and shortly released from custody. An attorney was not listed for him in court documents.

A criminal complaint released last week linked a couple from southwestern Ohio to the Oath Keepers militia group who have had several members be indicted on charges that they planned and coordinated with one another in the attack.

Asked Wednesday about the apparently significant role of some Ohioans in the Capitol riots, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio and the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the investigation’s focus has been on problems in the preparation and response to the Capitol riots, and that it will hear next week from the FBI and Justice Department.

“I’m sure that issue will come up,” Portman said. “But we also want to avoid this happening in the future and that’s the purpose really of the investigation.”

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Associated Press journalist Dan Sewell contributed to this report from Cincinnati. Farnoush Amiri is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.