Federal authorities arrested a Kannapolis man on Tuesday for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Brett Alan Rotella, also known as Brett Ostrander, 34, of Kannapolis, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers.

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 presidential election.

Rotella is also 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, and impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings.

A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia said, “According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, law enforcement authorities observed a man, later identified as Rotella, wearing a red skull cap, a black sleeveless puffy vest over a red sleeveless shirt, white or gray long shorts with a black stripe and black tennis shoes on the West Plaza of the Capitol building.”

Those court documents add that Rotella held a long pole with at least two flags affixed at various points during the day.

According to the filings, at about 2:26 p.m. on Jan. 6, Rotella allegedly approached a metal police barricade, grabbed it, pushed it in the direction of a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer, and yelled, “f——’ tear gas us, I didn’t do s—.”

At approximately 2:33 p.m., the police line on the West Plaza fell, and police retreated from the area. As the officers near him left their positions, Rotella allegedly led numerous other rioters in quickly following the police up the southwest stairs from the West Plaza. While leading the group, Rotella periodically paused and called out “hold” or held up his fist.

Court documents allege that Rotella then followed police into a long hallway leading into the U.S. Capitol building on the Lower West Terrace, referred to as “the tunnel.”

According to the filings, police retreated into the tunnel and shut and locked the first of two sets of double doors to the entrance of the Capitol building. Rotella allegedly stood outside those doors and stared at the police line, holding a flag.

Moments later, the rioters smashed one of the panes of glass in the doors and opened the set of doors. Rotella reportedly reached around, opened the door on the left, and was the second person to enter the tunnel. Rotella and others then approached the police line behind the second set of doors.

Another person came through the doors and began physically engaging the police. Soon, others, including Rotella, allegedly joined in the fight. At approximately 2:43 p.m., Rotella reportedly turned his back on the police line and pushed against the police officers while using his hand to help leverage his weight and push against the door frame. During this time, Rotella is said to have briefly grabbed a police riot shield. The video shows Rotella left the tunnel at about 2:55 p.m. after being sprayed with OC spray.

Approximately one hour later, Rotella was still located near the tunnel. By this time, the police had successfully expelled people from inside, but the crowd was continuing to fight against the police from outside.

Court documents say that Rotella was a crowd member, pushing in a concerted fashion and calling out “heave ho” from the outside against the police line. Approximately four minutes later, while still pushing with other members of the crowd, Rotella allegedly extended his left hand in the air, extended his left index finger, then his middle finger, then his ring finger as if to count “1, 2, 3” and then pushed hard against the rioters in front of him.

Next, Rotella reportedly made his way through the dense crowd closer to the police line. The video shows that while in the crowd, Rotella was passed a large orange ladder, which he then grabbed and pushed overhead into the mouth of the tunnel. After the ladder was pushed back out of the tunnel by police, Rotella allegedly continued to push against other people near him in an attempt to push and breach the police line collectively.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The U.S. Attorney’s Office provided assistance for the Western District of North Carolina, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Charlotte and Washington Field Offices, which identified Rotella as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #82 among its ‘seeking information’ photos. The U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department provided assistance.

In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, authorities have arrested more than 1,100 individuals in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.