SNOHOMISH — Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges accusing two Snohomish-area men of allegedly throwing objects at police and other acts during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot and breach at the U.S. Capitol 43 months ago.
On Thursday, Aug. 15, the FBI arrested Derek Noftsger, 47, of Machias at a location in Snohomish. The DOJ says that when rioters and police began pushing against each other near him, Noftsger allegedly picked up a police riot shield and threw it at cops.
Days later, Thomas Hodo, 47, of Snohomish was arrested at a location in Phoenix. The DOJ alleges, in an affidavit, that Hodo threw an object at the police and he also aided rioters pull on a barricade rack police were holding up to block entry to the Capitol.
After rioters broke through, Noftsger and Hodo unfurled a U.S. flag off near the southwest scaffolding of the platform being built for Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 Presidential inauguration ceremony. They got onto an outdoor terrace of the Capitol building and unfurled the flag again.
Authorities identified them using forensic analysis of cell phone videos and police bodycam footage from the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The two are co-defendants in the DOJ’s case.
The DOJ says “more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes” related to the Jan. 6 riot, the DOJ said.
Update, Sept. 3: A member of the community told the Tribune that Hodo turned himself in to police, versus being found and arrested. The Tribune is working to verify and out of an abundance of caution has updated the story. The Phoenix FBI office did not immediately return a phone call.
