Former Ohio National Guardsman Who Went AWOL Charged With Assaulting Officers on Jan. 6

A former member of the Ohio National Guard has been charged with assaulting law enforcement at the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot after investigators said he went AWOL when President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election.

On Tuesday, Matthew Honigford, 31, was arrested and now faces two felony counts of assault, resisting, or impeding officers. He also faces one count of civil disorder and several misdemeanor charges.

Honingford was shown wielding a flagpole horizontally, pushing into an officer, and berating several others, according to videos at the Capitol Building, according to NBC 5 Chicago. He was seen on the west side of the Capitol where some of the most intense violence was recorded.

Following Biden's 2020 victory, in an FBI affidavit, investigators said Honingford “stopped attending drill weekends." He claimed that his sister was ill and he "needed to be available to help her and that he did not trust the current state of the country following the election of Joe Biden as president.” 

Honingford was "reported Absent Without Leave but permitted to remain in the Ohio Army National Guard until his Expiration Term of Service date on March 14, 2022," according to a witness.