Jury convicts Army vet from N.J. of assaulting police during Jan. 6 riot

A federal jury in Washington, D.C. convicted an Army veteran from New Jersey of assaulting police officers inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The jury also found Brian Bingham, 38, of Pennsville in Salem County, guilty of another felony, civil disorder, and four related misdemeanors for being disorderly and disruptive in the Capitol.
Bingham’s trial started late last week. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
In court documents and trial testimony, federal authorities showed Bingham repeatedly confronting and taunting police officers who were trying to clear rioters from the Capitol.
When one officer pushed Bingham toward an exit with his baton, Bingham lunged and struck the officer in the face with his right hand, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington said in a statement.
Multiple officers had to pull Bingham away and forcibly throw him out of the building, authorities said.
Minutes later, Bingham messaged a person on Facebook, writing: “I got to manhandl[e] 5 cops and live to tell,” authorities said.
The person responded: “Lol… All of this does not surprise me! Stay safe. Trump2020.”
Federal investigators were tipped to Bingham’s presence at the Capitol by three people who told the FBI they knew Bingham from their Army days and identified him in pictures that investigators had publicized of the rioting.
On his LinkedIn page, Bingham says he served in the U.S. Army at Fort Moore, formerly Benning, in Georgia from 2010 to 2015, and later worked as a car salesman in Delaware.
He has addresses in Florida and Alabama, where the FBI arrested him in July 2021.
A request for comment to Bingham’s lawyers was not immediately returned.
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Kevin Shea may be reached at [email protected]