On January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. during the certification process of the results of the 2020 Presidential election, out of the over 1,500 rioters, it is estimated that one in five of them were U.S. military veterans. One of them was Brian Glenn Bingham.
This proved to be Bingham's undoing as a former teammate from his time in the military spotted the 36-year-old in a picture posted on the internet of the riot and alerted authorities, according to the charging documents. After identifying Bingham, the FBI then obtained a subpoena and searched his digital presence, and found that he posted photos he took from inside the Capitol building on Facebook.
Law Enforcement charged him with Assaulting, Resisting or Impeding certain Officers or Employees of the United States in Performance of Official Duties, Obstruction of Law Enforcement During Civil Disorder, Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority, Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct on Capitol Grounds, Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds, and Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building.
During the riot, Bingham was being urged and pushed toward an exit by a police officer with his baton, the criminal complaint said. The Army veteran responded by lunging at the officer and striking him in the face with his right hand.
"I got to manhandl[e] 5 cops and live to tell," he wrote in a message with a Facebook user.
Bingham was convicted in a Washington D.C. court this week, found guilty of a felony in assaulting a law enforcement officer and was also convicted of the other misdemeanor charges.
Bingham is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on February 7, 2025.