Texas terrorist arrested on charges stemming from attempted coup d’etat

A Texas man was arrested today on charges stemming from the attempted coup d’etat at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of counting the electoral votes for the presidential election.

Geoffrey Samuel Shough, 37, of Austin, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder and related offenses.

Shough was arrested in Austin and will make his initial appearance today in the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents, Shough was among the crowd of rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6. He was captured on video waving a Texas flag and wearing a jacket over what appeared to be a body armor vest, a ballistic-style helmet, goggles, and hard-knuckle gloves.

Shough was in a crowd outside the Senate Wing Door at approximately 2:45 p.m.

Minutes later, Shough was among the first few individuals to breach a line of uniformed U.S. Capitol Police officers attempting to keep rioters from entering.

The rioters, including Shough, overwhelmed the officers and forcibly entered the building.

According to the US Department of Justice, Shough was arrested after his ex-girlfriend and other anonymous tipsters identified him to the FBI, based on photographs of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

The case is being investigated by the FBI San Antonio Field Office’s Austin Resident Agency, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Shough as #256 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 13 months since Jan. 6, more than 750 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 235 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.