A Queens man was arrested for allegedly fighting officers and even shoving one over a ledge during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, officials announced Wednesday.
Ralph Joseph Celentano III was allegedly caught on video on the west terrace of the US Capitol pushing an officer “from behind in a ‘football-type tackle,’” causing him to fall from a ledge onto the terrace below, according to court papers filed with a criminal complaint.
The officer — an Iraq war veteran — says he feared for his safety amid the mob of protesters, thinking to himself, “I didn’t survive a war to go out like this,” the court documents claim.
Celentano allegedly got into “several physical altercations” with other law enforcement officers, the court papers allege.
The 54-year-old Broad Channel man was charged by Washington, DC, federal prosecutors with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds and related crimes.
Celentano — who was arrested in Queens Wednesday — is set to appear in Brooklyn federal court later in the day.
It was not immediately clear who Celentano’s lawyer was.
More than 775 people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deadly insurrection where hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Five people died, including one rioter who was fatally shot by an officer protecting members of Congress.