WASHINGTON — The FBI has arrested a Jan. 6 rioter who attacked police officers using a variety of items including a metal baton, a floor lamp and a shoe, according to court records.
Curtis Logan Tate, known to online “Sedition Hunters” as #ShinyCircleTattoo because of a distinct tattoo on his hand, was arrested in North Carolina on Thursday. He faces several charges, including a felony charge of assaulting federal officers while using a deadly or dangerous weapon and a felony count of assaulting law enforcement during a civil disorder. The other items he allegedly used in the attack were a speaker box and a broken table leg.
Curtis Logan Tate at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.DOJ
An affidavit details an interview FBI special agents conducted with Tate at his residence just days after the riot, on Jan. 13, 2021. The FBI said Tate insisted he had not committed any acts of violence, saying he did not agree with “destroying s—, breaking s—, [or] destroying our historic house.”
In spite of his claims to the FBI, images of Tate were added to the FBI’s Capitol Violence webpage, which the bureau has used to ask members of the public to identify individuals who assaulted police officers.
Curtis Logan Tate throwing a floor lamp at police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an FBI affidavit.DOJ
After Tate’s interview, the affidavit said, the bureau “obtained additional evidence, including additional online tips, facial recognition analysis, videos and images from open-source queries, as well as interviews of officer victims, which collectively demonstrate that TATE assaulted several law enforcement officers, destroyed property, and interfered with federal law enforcement officers during a civil disorder on January 6.”
Federal authorities also cited a USA Today story from March featuring an interview with Tate, in which he was identified as one of more than 100 people on the FBI’s website who had been identified but not yet arrested. “I’ve never, ever once hurt, or put my hands on an officer,” Tate claimed, while acknowledging that he was the person featured on the FBI’s website.
About 1,100 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and online sleuths have identified hundreds of additional rioters who have not yet been arrested.
