Two more Illinoisans have been arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Daniel Leyden, 55, of Chicago, and 56-year-old Joseph Leyden, of LaGrange, were both arrested Tuesday and face multiple misdemeanor and felony charges.
Federal prosecutors say Daniel Leyden was part of a crowd that assaulted Capitol police officers as they broke through one of the first lines of defense near Peace Monument on the West Side of the grounds, knocking one officer unconscious with a concussion.
That took place in the same area where Officer Caroline Edwards testified before the Jan. 6 special congressional committee that she was pinned down under a bike rack.
"I felt the bike rack come on top of my head and I was pushed backwards and my foot caught the stair behind me and I — my chin hit the handrail," Edwards said. "And then I — at that point I had blacked out. But my — the back of my head clipped the concrete stairs behind me."
Prosecutors say about 24 minutes minutes, Joseph Leyden was captured on video lunging at a Metropolitan Police Officer as the crowd surged closer to the Capitol – a scene Edwards described as carnage and chaos.
"What I saw was just a — a war scene. It was something like I'd seen out of the movies. I — I couldn't believe my eyes. There were officers on the ground. You know, they were bleeding. They were throwing up," she said.
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Prosecutors say after the attack, the FBI distributed photos of the Leydens, wanted for assaulting officers. Someone who knows the brothers identified them to the FBI in Dec. 2021, authorities say, and phone, bank and tollway records subsequently placed Daniel Leyden in Washington at the time of the attack.
Both are charged with a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges. They appeared in court Tuesday afternoon and were released on bond.
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Attorneys for the Leyden brothers confirmed that the two are both electricians but declined to comment on the case.
Their arrests bring the total number of people from Illinois who have been charged in connection with the January sixth attack to 32.
Hundreds of people from nearly all 50 states have been arrested nationwide, but NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly says there will likely be many more arrests.
"There's been over 850 arrests so far in the January 6 investigation, but the total scope of individuals who either entered the Capitol or assaulted law enforcement officers outside is more than 2,500. So there's really just a lot of these cases yet to come," Reilly said.
"It really is just an overwhelming investigation, in terms of the number of cases they have to bring forward," he added.
