A U.S. Army soldier has been arrested in Hawaii on charges he repeatedly struck a police officer with a flagpole during a crowd gathering. attack on the US Capitol more than three years ago, according to court reports unsealed on Wednesday.
Alexander Cain Poplin was arrested on tuesday at Schofield Barracks, an Army installation near Honolulu. Poplin, 31, of Wahiawa, Hawaii, was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday.
The FBI received a tip in February 2021 that Poplin had posted on Facebook about attacks on police during the Capitol riots. Poplin wrote that “we took back our home” and “stood for something,” according to a sworn statement by an FBI task force officer.
In July 2024, the FBI investigator interviewed Poplin’s military supervisor, who identified him in a photo showing him wearing an Army camouflage backpack in the restricted area of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Poplin attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the White House on January 6. He joined the crowd of Trump supporters who gathered at the Capitol, where lawmakers were meeting to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
On the Capitol’s Lower West Plaza, Poplin carried an “Area Closed” sign in his left hand and a flagpole with a blue flag in his right. Video captured him repeatedly striking a Metropolitan Police Department officer with the flagpole, the FBI affidavit said.
Poplin was arrested on a complaint charging him with five felonies, including the misdemeanor offenses of obstructing police during a civil disturbance and assaulting, resisting or obstructing police with a dangerous weapon.
An attorney assigned to represent Poplin at Wednesday’s hearing in Hawaii did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the charges.
Nearly 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the Capitol riots. Many of the rioters were military veterans, but only a handful were still on active duty on Jan. 6. About 140 police officers were injured in the attack.
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Lolita C. Baldor, an Associated Press editor in Washington, contributed.