A New York man donning a Trump baseball cap during the Jan. 6 riot who allegedly was captured on video pushing a U.S. Capitol police officer over a ledge on the west terrace has been arrested.
According to the Department of Justice, officials were trying to identify Ralph Joseph Celentano III from the video after he "blind-sided" an officer in a "football-type tackle" from behind, causing him to fall.
The officer, an Iraq war veteran, told federal prosecutors he feared for his safety amid the mob of protesters, saying, “I didn't survive a war to go out like this.”
Authorities said after posting a “Be On the Lookout” photo of the 54-year-old, the FBI received tips about a photo from 2018 that was posted on the Facebook page associated with The Jenny Albert Sea Turtle Foundation.
The FBI said they interviewed a foundation volunteer, who identified Celentano as “Ralphie” or “Ralph.”
According to the Washington Post, Celentano was arrested in Queens on Wednesday.
The Broad City man has been charged assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and the act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
