Capitol rioter accused of assaulting officer, burying his badge in backyard

A person charged in connection with the Capitol riot is being accused of assaulting a Washington, D.C., police officer and taking his badge back to his home in New York, where he allegedly buried it in his backyard.

Thomas Sibick is accused of grabbing officer Michael Fanone’s badge and radio as the officer was pulled into a crowd of rioters who beat and tased him, leaving him unconscious and in the hospital.

According to the FBI affidavit, Sibick “stated that he attempted to reach the officer to pull him away but was unable to get to him and at that point feared for his life and that of the officer.”

Sibick claimed that when he attempted to pull the officer away, he accidentally ripped the badge off and that he grabbed his radio only so he could press the “emergency orange button” to get the officer help, the court filing states.

Authorities say Sibick originally told them that he threw the items away in a dumpster because he was afraid he’d be arrested if he turned them into the FBI but later retracted that statement and told the officer he buried the badge in his backyard.

Sibick is facing multiple charges for his actions. A federal judge in the Western District of New York let him be released into home confinement, though the Justice Department has filed for an emergency appeal of the decision, CBS News reported.

Sibick said he left the riot after the incident with Fanone because of the violence.

Hundreds have been arrested since the riot, with federal authorities still investigating the events of Jan. 6 that left five people dead.