Local News
Daniel Tocci, of Amherst, was arrested for allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
An Amherst man has become the latest New England resident to be arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.
Daniel Tocci’s arrest marks the 32nd in a region comprising Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island, according to the FBI’s Boston office. He was taken into custody without incident.
Tocci was seen on live television footage carrying a large stick while near the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, according to a criminal complaint issued Tuesday by the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia. Tocci allegedly made his way to the Capitol and ascended a staircase on the northwest side of the building just before 2:30 p.m. that day. He joined fellow members of the crowd on an upper terrace in chants of “our house,” according to the complaint.
On that terrace, the rioters broke into the Capitol building through the Senate Wing Door. It was breached twice, at around 2:13 p.m. and around 2:47 p.m. Tocci allegedly entered the building through that door at about 3:18 p.m.
A few minutes later, he allegedly said something to a police officer inside and then exited the building through a window.
Surveillance footage from just before 4 p.m. shows Tocci outside of the building, back on the terrace, reaching through a broken window and removing a portion of the shutter, according to the complaint. In total, he allegedly remained on the Capitol’s restricted grounds without authorization for at least 90 minutes.
A local police officer identified Tocci in April of this year after being shown images of him from the Jan. 6 attack. The officer told FBI investigators that he had pulled over Tocci on Jan. 24, 2023, for a broken headlight. The FBI was given body camera footage of the traffic stop from the Hadley Police Department, according to the complaint.
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