WASHINGTON — A Dutchess County man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others, commonly referred to as “The Insurrection”, disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Christopher Douglas Finney, 32, of Hopewell Junction has been charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder. He is also facing misdemeanor charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Finney was arrested on Thursday by the FBI in Hopewell Junction and will make his initial appearance in the Southern District of New York.
According to court documents, Finney traveled from his home in New York to Washington, D.C., to attend a rally on Jan. 6, 2021. Finney recorded himself near the Washington Monument and, in the recording, stated, “We’re gonna be going up to, where they’re – what’s the building where they’re doing the counting at?” Someone off camera replied, “the Capitol,” and Finney continued, “We’re going up to the Capitol, eventually. We’re gonna storm the Capitol. They’re not gonna keep us outta there. We’re gonna make sure that this is done correct and that Donald Trump is still our president.”
At approximately 12:49 p.m., according to the FBI, an open-source video captured Finney addressing a crowd through a megaphone while just outside the fenced boundary of the Capitol’s restricted area. Approximately four minutes after Finney appears, the video records an off-camera reaction to the first breach of the Capitol grounds. Following the first breach of the Capitol grounds, Finney recorded himself wearing a face mask printed with a skull and stating, “We’re storming the Capitol right now. We just broke over the fence. As you can see, we have many many many people, millions of people, storming the lawn right now to the Capitol building. We started tearing down the fence; this is all fence right here as you can see. We’re going in there. Let’s go.”
Finney continued to record himself as he crossed the Capitol’s West Lawn and scaled a stone wall reinforced with snow fencing. He eventually made his way to the Inauguration scaffolding at the northwest corner of the Capitol’s West Front. Finney recorded himself entering the scaffolding and ascending the steps past a police line and bike rack barricades onto the Upper West Terrace and approaching the Senate Wing Doors.
As he approached the Senate Wing Doors, Finney recorded himself stating, “Patriots, we have made it. We are where they are counting.” Finney entered the Capitol building via the Senate Wing Doors at 2:14 p.m. then exited the building through a broken window next to the Senate Wing Doors but quickly reentered. After this second entry, Finney proceeded south, stopping in a conference room and then moving to the Crypt, where he declared in a video recording, “As you can see, we’re inside the Capitol right now.” From the Crypt, Finney made his way to the OAP corridor and exited the Capitol through a door on the east side of the building.
After he exited the building, Finney made his way to the west side of the Capitol and arrived at the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. The Tunnel was created by the construction of a stage for the upcoming Presidential Inauguration and was the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on January 6th, prosecutors allege.
Near the Tunnel, Finney joined with other rioters in a group push against the police line in the Tunnel. As the crowd pushed, another rioter threw an object emitting smoke at officers at the front of the Tunnel. As the entrance to the Tunnel filled with smoke, Finney retreated down the steps. At the bottom of the steps, Finney assisted other rioters in passing a long wooden pole up to the Tunnel entrance. Another rioter then tossed the pole at the police line. Finney recorded video footage as the crowd threw other objects at the police, a rioter jabbed at officers with a pole, and additional rioters beat officers with a bat and a riot shield.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
In the 37 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
