Matthew Jason Beddingfield

Matthew Jason Beddingfield, of Johnston County, North Carolina — identified by private citizens using facial recognition software — jumped a barricade and charged at Capitol Police officers near scaffolding on the building's southwest side on Jan. 6, 2021 at about 12:58 p.m. Minutes later he attacked officers with a metal flagpole and threw a metal rod at police, then turned to face the Capitol and made a gesture a prosecutor described as commonly associated with Nazi salutes. At the time of the riot, Beddingfield was on probation after an earlier Alford plea to felonious assault with a deadly weapon stemming from a 2019 shooting, and he was later also charged with attempted murder in a separate case. He pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and was sentenced to 38 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and $2,000 in restitution.