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Lancaster County man charged in Jan. 6 Capitol breach

  • The Associated Press
  • Sam Dunklau
The FBI identifies the man in the foreground as Samuel Lazar of Ephrata. Lazar faces several charges in connection with his alleged actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

 FBI charging documents

The FBI identifies the man in the foreground as Samuel Lazar of Ephrata. Lazar faces several charges in connection with his alleged actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

FBI charging documents

The FBI identifies the man in the foreground as Samuel Lazar of Ephrata. Lazar faces several charges in connection with his alleged actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

(Harrisburg) — A Pennsylvania man who boasted of macing police at the breach of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection is facing federal charges.

Agents detained Samuel Lazar, 35, in Ephrata on Monday, on charges of assaulting police and obstruction of law enforcement, according to court filings unsealed Tuesday.

Court records do not list a lawyer for Lazar, who appeared in federal court Tuesday and intends to argue for his release, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In April, LNP/LancasterOnline reported that it had identified Lazar as Suspect 275 from photos issued by the FBI of its most wanted insurrectionists.

Online sleuths nicknamed him “Face Paint Blowhard” for his distinctive Jan. 6 outfit, including a tactical vest and goggles and his face painted in camouflage appearing in photos and videos circulated on social media from the attack.

In them, he can be seen pulling away barricades, shouting in officers’ faces, using a megaphone to guide the mob forward and helping others use a large Trump sign as a battering ram against police, The Inquirer reported.

In videos, Lazar is seen spraying what appears to be a “chemical irritant” at officers, and then later boasting about having “maced” them, according to court papers.

Lazar has been a regular at events protesting Trump’s election loss and at “Reopen Pennsylvania” rallies over the past 15 months.

In May, he showed up in photos at a fundraiser for state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams) headlined by Rudy Giuliani, who like Mastriano has helped spread former President Donald Trump’s baseless falsehoods that the election was rigged against him. Mastriano himself marched on the Capitol with a pro-Trump crowd on January 6th and, in a video, appears to walk past a police barricade.

In late May, Mastriano told the Huffington Post he condemned Lazar’s actions that day, and that everyone who was violent “should be charged and held accountable.” In a statement to that publication, he suggested he didn’t know who Lazar was when the photos were taken.

That’s despite photos that appear to show Lazar and Mastriano together at two other events last November and December.

U.S. Justice Department records show 47 people arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.

Pa. Republican lawmakers and the U.S. Capitol attack
As part of WITF’s commitment to standing with facts, and because the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was an attempt to overthrow representative democracy in America, we are marking elected officials’ connections to the insurrection. Read more about this commitment.
Sen. Mastriano (R-Adams) is one of several dozen state lawmakers who signed a letter asking Congress to delay certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral votes despite no evidence that would call those results into question.
This supported the election-fraud lie, which led to the attack on the Capitol.

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