UPDATE: 4:48 p.m. - Jan. 29, 2021
Two more Montanans have been charged for allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building in Washington DC and being present at one of the most visible confrontations with authorities inside the Capitol.
Court documents state Helena area bothers Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes turned themselves into the Helena Police after seeing national news coverage from the Capitol and believing they were wanted by the FBI.
Joshua and Jerod each face nine charges for their alleged involvement in the riot.
Prosecutors say the brothers were among the first 10 rioters to enter the Capitol building at that part of the building.
Jerod Hughes is accused of working with another man to kick open a door that would let more people enter the building.
From there, court records say, the crowd began to move toward the US Senate floor.
According to investigators, the two met up with another suspect -- Douglas Austin Jensen -- who was engaged with a lone Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.
Images of surveillance video show the mob advancing up a flight of stairs toward Goodman who has been called a hero for baiting the rioters away from the Senate floor while lawmakers were still evacuating.
Goodman led the crowd to an adjacent hallway and back up where the confrontation continued until rioters left the atrium.
Investigators say the Hughes brothers were among a group who then forced their way on the Senate floor where video captured the two men opening Senator’s desks and reviewing sensitive material inside.
Joshua and Jerod Hughes have been charged with a slew of charges ranging from obstruction to distributing government business to destruction of property.
The Hughes brothers are two of three known Montanans that charges have been filed against regarding the U.S. Capitol riot. The other being a Dillion man that was arrested and released last week.
(first report: 11:38 a.m. - Jan. 29, 2021)
Montana brothers Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
On Jan. 11, the Hughes brothers went to the Helena Police Department after seeing themselves on news coverage of the riot, and believed that they were wanted by the FBI.
The brothers were presented with copies of the FBI "be on the look-out" posters, and each man circled a picture of himself. The brothers said that they wanted to turn themselves in.
The court documents state that surveillance video and video posted on social media confirms that the brothers were present and "actively participated in the riot."
On Jan. 11 the Hughes brothers went to the Helena Police Department after seeing themselves on news coverage of the riot, and believed that they were wanted by the FBI. The brothers were presented with copies of the FBI "be on the look-out" posters, and each man circled a picture of himself. The brothers said that they wanted to turn themselves in.
The court documents state that surveillance video and video posted on social media confirms that the brothers were present and "actively participated in the riot."
The brothers are seen on video joining other people climbing through a shattered window into the Capitol, and were "among the first ten rioters to enter at this location." Once inside, Jerod and another person kicked a door until the lock broke so that other rioters could get inside the building.
The Hughes brothers then joined up with a person named Douglas Austin Jensen, who was engaged in a confrontation with Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who repeatedly ordered the rioters to back up and leave the building. The court documents state that the rioters kept advancing on Officer Goodman in a "menacing manner," and that Jensen was the primary aggressor, followed immediately by the Hughes brothers.
“Officers reported that they were too far outnumbered to attempt to arrest the rioters, so instead they used their training to try and de-escalate the situation by talking with individuals in an attempt to calm them down,” the court document states. “Notwithstanding these efforts, officers were met with shouting and aggression. In reviewing a digital video recording of this altercation, rioters can be heard shouting ‘this is our house,’ ‘this is our America,’ and ‘we’re here for the corrupt government.’”
After leaving that area, the brothers went to the U.S. Senate floor - which had been evacuated by this point - and sat in Senators' chairs, opened desks, and reviewed "sensitive material stored therein."
Among the charges the brothers are facing are obstruction of an official proceeding, destruction of property, and entering in the Capitol without authorization.
Henry Muntzer, a business owner in Dillon, was charged earlier this month in connection with the riot; click here for details.
