Two Monroe County brothers accused of assaulting police during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Andrew Valentin, 26, and Matthew Valentin, 31, entered the plea during a videoconference call before Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, a federal judge in Washington, D.C.
No trial date was set, but the judge scheduled a status conference for July 30 at 10 a.m. Over the next two months, prosecutors must supply defense lawyer Joshua Karoly with their evidence.
To date, federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,300 people with various roles in the riots. The FBI and other agencies took more than three years to charge the Valentins and court paperwork does not clarify why it took so long.
A Pennsylvania state trooper, whose name is publicly unavailable, investigated the case and wrote the initial complaint against them.
Andrew Valentin was arrested Feb. 11 in South Whitehall Township in Lehigh County. Matthew Valentin was arrested Feb. 12 in Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County.
Much of the evidence against the brothers relies on open-source videos found in online internet archives, YouTube or others sites and police officers’ body camera footage, according to the trooper’s statement of facts, filed in February. A grand jury handed up indictments of both April 17.
Tens of thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump, wrongly believing the 2020 election was stolen from him, poured into Washington to protest on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump hosted a rally about noon near the White House and urged protesters to march to the Capitol where Congress was scheduled to certify Scranton native Joe Biden’s election as president.
"We will never give up. We will never concede," Trump told cheering supporters.
Trump himself wanted to go to the Capitol, but a Secret Service agent refused to take him, the special congressional panel that investigated Jan. 6 found.
The statement of facts does not say whether the Valentin brothers attended Trump’s rally. Instead, the statement says they gathered with many others near the Washington Monument and walked along Constitution Avenue to the Capitol.
Matthew Valentin wore a gray hat, black vest, gray hoodie and camouflage pants and carried a black backpack. On an open-source video, he called himself Matthew from MAGAsylvania.
Andrew Valentin wore a white baseball cap with the words “Make America Great Again,” a black vest, white T-shirt with a long-sleeve black undershirt and dark khaki pants and carried a black backpack.
An unidentified witness, a woman, who knew Matthew Valentin identified him and his brother. She worked with the brother.
Protesters began entering the Capitol building shortly after 2 p.m., but the Valentins did not go inside. They did cross police lines and enter the Capitol grounds, according to the indictments.
They went to the Capitol’s west plaza and climbed a media tower erected for Biden’s inauguration. Video shows them on the tower at 2:14 p.m.
At 2:28 p.m., the crowd rushed a police line on the west plaza. The Valentins were among them as rioters yelled, “push, push, push.”
A minute later, police body camera footage shows Andrew Valentin pushing a bike rack into officers. His baseball cap falls off and a second later, Matthew Valentin pushes the bike rack into officers.
Video shows Matthew Valentin reaching through the bike rack and grabbing an officer.
As the crowd continued to rush the line, police fell back and formed a new line. As the mob advanced and continued its assault, Andrew Valentin took out a cell phone to record the scene. Body camera footage shows him approaching the officers at 2:33 p.m. with his brother close behind.
Matthew Valentin is seen holding a baton in one hand and a spray canister in the other, according to the statement of facts. Less than a minute later, he’s yelling and spraying a chemical irritant. Apparently, some got into his eyes. Video shows him rinsing his eyes with water.
Officers retreated.
Next, the brothers walked to a terrace on the Capitol’s west side where the inauguration stage was under construction. Matthew mounted a camera to his forehead about 2:50 p.m.
Body-worn officer footage shows the brothers approaching another line of officers at 2:52 p.m. Matthew Valentin grabbed an officer’s baton about 3:30 p.m., according to video.
Officers cleared the terrace and the Valentins returned to the west plaza. Body camera footage shows Andrew Valentin throwing a chair at officers about 5:12 p.m. The chair struck a police officer’s hand-held shield.
Each is charged with two counts of civil disorder meant to obstruct, impede and interfere with a law enforcement officer. Both are charged with single counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building (or grounds); and committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Andrew Valentin is charged with two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.
Matthew Valentin faces one count of the same charge and a single count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers.
Matthew Valentin faces up to 69 years in prison, Andrew Valentin 81 years.
The Valentins remain free on their own recognizance.
