An Illinois man accused of grabbing a police officer’s baton and interfering with law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in the U.S. Capitol is facing felony and misdemeanor charges, prosecutors said.
Tyng Jing Yang, 60, of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the felony offense of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, along with four related misdemeanor offenses.
He entered the Capitol building illegally, posed for photos in the Rotunda, and when law enforcement officers tried to clear the area, “Yang forcibly interfered with those efforts and physically grabbed hold of an officer’s baton,” according to court documents.
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Yang appeared in Chicago’s federal court on Wednesday but was released pending his next court date, which will be a virtual hearing on Nov. 29 in Washington, D.C., according to a spokesperson for Yang’s attorney, Craig Estes.
The judge also ordered Yang, who holds dual Taiwan and U.S. citizenship, to surrender his Taiwanese passport, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The FBI tracked down Yang using cell phone, toll and security camera data, according to court documents.
More than 30 Illinois residents and nearly 900 people nationwide have been arrested on charges stemming from the riot.
Earlier this month, another Chicago area man pleaded guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer at the Capitol riot.
James Robert Elliott of Aurora, a member of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, admitted to hitting an officer with a flag pole.
A U.S. Department of Justice press release said Elliott, 25, described his actions in texts afterward: “I bonked 2 cops … never thought I’d say that lol.”
