Federal prosecutors indicted a Montgomery County police officer Thursday on charges that he assaulted an officer during the pro-Trump attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, before he joined the county police force.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Justin Lee, 25, of Rockville, Maryland, is facing a mix of felony and misdemeanor charges related to his alleged presence at the Capitol.
While on duty in July, Mr. Lee fatally shot a man suspected of stabbing several people at and near a shopping mall in Maryland.
The exact nature of the Jan. 6 accusations of Mr. Lee wasn’t made public, but prosecutors said he’s charged with disruptive conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds, physical violence, disorderly conduct, assaulting a police officer and entering the U.S. Capitol grounds without lawful authority while the vice president was there.
Mr. Lee was arrested Thursday in the District and had a hearing before a federal magistrate judge the same day.
The suspect was placed on administrative leave by Montgomery County police. Mr. Lee was not a police officer with Montgomery County at the time of his alleged participation in the Capitol riot.
He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court Oct. 25.
The officer made headlines in July for shooting and killing a man who stabbed three women at random during a violent rampage in Silver Spring.
Mr. Lee spotted 19-year-old Franklin Castro Ordonez in a wooded area and confronted him. The assailant refused to obey commands to drop his weapon and lunged at officers, prompting Mr. Lee to open fire on him.
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