HELENA — Two brothers from Montana were among the first to break into the U.S. Capitol while Congress was certifying the Electoral College vote, the FBI said in charging documents.
Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes climbed through a broken window into the Capitol on Jan. 6 and Jerod Hughes helped kick open a door to allow other rioters inside, the FBI said in charging documents filed on Thursday.
The brothers were right behind the primary aggressor who pursued Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up the stairs, investigators said. Goodman was able to bait the mob away from the Senate floor, which had not yet been evacuated.
The brothers later found their way onto the Senate floor, where they sat in senators’ chairs and opened their desks, charging documents said. The brothers were captured in numerous images and videos from the riots, court records said.
Joshua and Jerod Hughes reported to the Helena Police Department on Jan. 11, saying they’d seen themselves on news coverage and believed they were wanted by the FBI. An FBI agent responded. The brothers said they wanted to turn themselves in and have an attorney present before they were questioned. They were allowed to return home.
The FBI declined to comment on whether they are in custody or to release their ages and hometowns. Court records only include the charging documents and no court dates. They were not listed on the jail roster in Lewis and Clark County Friday morning.
The brothers face charges for entering a restricted building, being on the Senate floor with the intent to disrupt the orderly conduct of official business, impeding a law enforcement officer, obstructing an official proceeding and damaging or aiding in damaging property of the United States.