Florida Man Arrested for Assaulting Law Enforcement and Other Charges During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

           WASHINGTON - A Florida man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including for assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

           David Kennedy Homol, 55, of Umatilla, Florida, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

           In addition to the felonies, Homol is charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or ground, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.

           Homol was arrested today by the FBI in Florida and will make his initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida.

           According to allegations in court documents, David Homol and his half-brother, Dillon Homol, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the "Stop the Steal" rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021.  Following the rally, the Homol brothers walked together to the U.S. Capitol grounds and eventually entered the Capitol's restricted perimeter on the west front.  Publicly available video footage, body-worn camera video footage, and other open-source media revealed that David Homol, the defendant, at some point donned a black helmet with an American flag drawn on the side.  Homol also carried an American flag secured to a PVC pipe.

            At approximately 2:12 p.m., the defendant was captured swinging his flagpole multiple times at police officers as they battled rioters on the south end of the West Plaza.  Court documents say that the defendant's assaults on police officers are visible on body-worn camera footage from that area and time.  Furthermore, court documents state that the defendant can be seen raising his flagpole and striking two different officers.  First, the defendant struck the back of an officer wearing a gray bicycle helmet.  Moments later, a police officer wearing a black "MPD" helmet approached, and the defendant struck the officer in the side.  The officer then grappled with Homol in an attempt to take away his PVC flagpole.

           Additional public source video depicts the defendant sometime later appearing to use his cell phone to capture video or images at the top of the scaffolding erected for the Inaugural stage.  At this point, the defendant's flag had been separated from his PVC pipe.  The defendant was also captured on public source video at the bottom of the southwest scaffolding, holding his PVC pipe, as night began to fall.

           Later that day, the defendant sent a text message to Dillon Homol, that read, "Today was not an antifa-inspired statement.  It was totally done by angry Trump supporters with no firearms, many singing GOD bless America, Jesus saves, etc." and "The corrupt politicians should be relieved this was NOT an Armed rebellion.  It clearly was a statement of strength of We The People."

           Dillon Homol pleaded guilty to one charge and was convicted at trial of additional charges stemming from his role in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, on Sept. 29, 2023.

           This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.

           This case is being investigated by the FBI's Tampa and Washington Field Offices.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

           In the 36 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,265 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.  The investigation remains ongoing.

           Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.