Federal agents have arrested a New York City sanitation worker for his alleged role in the U.S. Capitol riot after authorities said videos surfaced online of him at the scene of the January insurrection, prosecutors said Friday.
Dominick Madden, 43, is facing multiple charges following his arrest in Brooklyn on Thursday night and is expected to appear before a federal judge on Friday.
A criminal complaint shows Madden faces three charges in federal court in Washington, D.C., including an allegation he was involved in violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds with intent to impede, disrupt or disturb a session of Congress. The charges also accuse him of knowingly entering or staying in a restricted building or grounds without legal authority and engaging in disorderly conduct there.
On Jan. 6, rioters backing former President Donald Trump breached the Capitol as members of Congress were meeting to certify the vote count of the Electoral College of the 2020 presidential election that delivered victory to President Joe Biden. The violence left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
An FBI special agent wrote in court documents that video surveillance footage showed Madden going inside the U.S. Capitol Building at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 6 through the Senate Wing door and carrying a flag while walking around and speaking to other rioters before leaving through the same door 13 minutes later.
Federal officials sought the surveillance video after a New York Post story on Jan. 14 featured a photo of Madden outside the building, identified him as a city sanitation worker and said the FBI was investigating his involvement in the incident, the agent wrote.
The story reported police sources said federal officials were investigating Madden after videos on social media appeared to show him outside the Capitol wearing a QAnon hoodie and waving a Trump flag while shouting the QAnon slogan.
Authorities said federal officials reviewed a passport application that Madden previously submitted, which listed his employer as the New York City Department of Sanitation. They also said his passport had a date of birth and Social Security number matching those that the sanitation department voluntarily provided for Madden during the FBI probe.
After the Post story, Madden admitted to his employer he was out of his house “without authorization” while out on sick leave on Jan. 6, according to federal officials. They said Madden’s employer didn’t question him about any role in the riot but said that the sanitation department has suspended him from his job.
Federal officials said sanitation department investigators told the FBI on Wednesday that another sanitation employee who has worked with Madden since 2016 said the person featured in the video linked to the Post article “looks like Madden” and “could be a person who works for me.”
A sanitation department spokesman said Friday that Madden has been suspended without pay since shortly after the department learned of the allegations against him and that the agency “takes this situation very seriously and is prepared to work with law enforcement in any way necessary.”
Madden’s arrest comes as authorities investigate hundreds of people who have been linked to the pro-Trump riot, a probe that has yielded the arrests of people locally who have included a retired FDNY firefighter from Freeport and the son of a Brooklyn judge.
