DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 41-year-old central Iowa man was arrested Wednesday on federal charges alleging that he took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building.
Chad Heathcote, of Adel, is charged with two federal felonies: entering and remaining in a restricted building with intent to impede or disrupt an official proceeding and disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Capitol. Court records don’t indicate whether he has an attorney.
In charging documents, an FBI agent said witnesses came forward about Heathcote after he bragged in social media postings about being at the Capitol that day and was identified in photos shown in television reports. Agent Tyler Johnson said Heathcote’s cellphone data also indicated that he was inside the building during the attack.
Heathcote was ordered to appear for a video conference hearing on May 12. He is the eighth person from Iowa to be charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
The FBI was first notified of Heathcote’s participation in a Jan. 20 anonymous letter. It received further details in February from an additional witness in who said Heathcote had bragged on Facebook that he’d been in Washington on the day a crowd of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in a bid to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.
FBI personnel viewing video evidence identified Heathcote as being inside the U.S. Capitol. Court documents show numerous photos of him outside and inside the building, including some showing him wearing a pink gas mask.
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