‘Bullets are expensive’: Jan. 6 rioters used man’s massive $700 ‘Trump’ sign ‘like a battering ram’ against police at the Capitol, feds say

An Ohio man is accused of bringing a massive “Trump” sign that rioters used as a “battering ram” against a line of officers guarding the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Jeffrey Newcomb, 41, faces charges of assaulting officers, obstruction, trespassing and disorderly conduct, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.

Newcomb allegedly brought to the riots that day a 13-foot by 10-foot custom metal “Trump” sign with casters “that were about the size of a
person’s head,” court documents said.

Authorities said he can be seen in video footage carting the thing around the area near the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House before bringing it with him to Constitution Avenue and Capitol grounds. With the help of other rioters, he allegedly carried it up the Maryland Walkway toward the Capitol building. The group then carried the sign into a mob of rioters facing off against police on the West Plaza, court documents said.

As they passed the sign toward the front of the crow, rioters cheered the sign’s arrival, authorities said. With help, the sign was passed closer and closer to the police line as Newcomb carried it by one of its large casters, court documents said. Authorities described the group using it “like a battering ram,” according to court papers.

“The sign could have easily knocked over police due to the frame’s sheer size and the sharp edges and corners, which were readily capable of causing slicing or splitting injuries,” prosecutors said. Police were able to pull it away from the mob.

Newcomb remained on the West Plaza after the police line fell at approximately 2:30 p.m., and rioters swarmed onto the inaugural stage, prosecutors said.

He allegedly boasted about his role more than two years after the deadly violence.

“Went to Jan 6th to peacefully protest in the loudest way possible: With a 13ft by 10ft signs on custom made aluminum wagon,” Newcomb wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on March 8, 2023, federal prosecutors say. “I spent $700 on this. Keeping my identity a secret because bullets are expensive.”

In another post, Newcomb allegedly said, “I went up to the Capitol but was blocked by pylons so the guys around came and picked it [the ‘Trump’ sign] up the proceed to throw it at the police.”

This post included images of rioters holding the sign on the West Plaza, including one of them pushing the sign into the police line.

In another follow-up post, Newcomb stated, “After the cops left, one of the protesters found the sign and put it up on the Capitol. (Wasn’t me),” authorities said in court documents.

Newcomb was caught after the FBI received a tip in April 2023, prosecutors said.

In the 45 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 people have been charged for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, authorities said.

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