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WASHINGTON — The FBI arrested a Payson man Tuesday who is charged with felony offenses accusing him of participating in the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including using a stun gun.
In a criminal complaint filed last week, Zach Rash, 24, is charged with the obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and inflicting bodily injury, all felonies with potential prison sentences of over a year.
He is also charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, all misdemeanors.
Rash traveled to Washington from Utah to attend former President Donald Trump's rally on Jan. 6, 2021, according to court documents. Senators and members of the House of Representatives were meeting in the Capitol to certify the vote count of the Electoral College for the 2020 presidential election.
A crowd of rioters, including Rash, forced police officers to break their line on the West Plaza and retreat toward the Capitol building, according to prosecutors. Court documents show an image of Rash in "the initial wave of rioters," holding a fire extinguisher.
Rash moved into the Inauguration Tunnel, making his way toward the front of the crowd where police were holding a line with riot shields, according to charging documents. CCTV footage shows another rioter take out a Taser and offer it to the crowd. Rash took the stun gun and lunged toward officers multiple times, before passing it off to others, the court documents say.
Later, the complaint says Rash blocked officers' attempts at closing a door.
In October of 2022, the FBI interviewed Rash, and investigators say he "positively identified himself" in the photos presented to him and admitted to receiving the Taser, though he said, "I don't think I used it that day" but "it could have happened," according to charging documents.
Rash will make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court, though no date has been set. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.
"More than 1,358 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 486 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony," according to a press release.
