Newspaper editor intervenes with police in Capitol riots

A former top editor of an Orthodox Jewish newspaper in New York City was arrested Thursday on charges that he interfered with police officers trying to protect them. The US Capitol during the January 6 riots.

Eliot Resnick39, was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Press when he joined a crowd of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.

The video shows Resnick grabbing the arm of a Capitol Police sergeant and spraying the rioters with chemical fuel to prevent them from entering the building, the affidavit said. Another officer tried to remove Resnick’s hand from the sergeant’s, the agent wrote.

The FBI arrested Resnick in New York City on charges including civil disorder and interfering with or interfering with law enforcement. Court records did not immediately list an attorney for Resnick.

The Jewish Press, based in Brooklyn, bills itself as the largest independent weekly Jewish newspaper in the United States, saying in a statement on its website that it is “known for editorial profanity” and “was politically incorrect long before the word was coined.”

Politico reported in April 2021 That video showed Resnick inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. Resnick later wrote an article advocating for the Capitol riots without acknowledging his presence in the building that day, Politico reported.

At the time, Jewish Press publisher Naomi Mauer told Politico that the newspaper believed Resnick “acted within the law.” A statement from the Jewish Press editorial board confirmed that Resnick was at the Capitol on January 6 and was “covering the rally and the horrific events of the rest of the day” for the newspaper.

The editorial board wrote, “The Jewish Press doesn’t see why Elliott’s personal views on former President Trump should set him apart from dozens of other journalists covering the events, including many inside the Capitol building during the riots.”

Then-President Trump addressed a crowd of his supporters at a Jan. 6 “Stop the Steel” rally. The crowd that stormed the Capitol disrupted a joint session of Congress that certified Joe Biden’s election victory.

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Before the riots, Resnick posted social media messages echoing Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats stole the election from him, according to the post cited by the FBI affidavit.

Resnick has been a reporter and editor for The Jewish Press since 2006. He left the newspaper in May 2021 before the FBI began investigating him.

Jewish Press staff did not immediately respond to email and telephone messages seeking comment on Resnik’s arrest.

About 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riots. Several riot defendants have claimed they were acting as journalists when they joined the crowd as they entered the Capitol, but prosecutors and judges have routinely rejected these claims.

For the past two years, the FBI has been conducting operations across the county to arrest suspects in the Capitol riots. The cases are often based on tips they received in the first months after the riots.

An FBI agent’s account of Resnick’s actions on January 6 portrays him as an active participant in the riot.

After rioters broke through a line of police officers, Resnick repeatedly signaled others to climb the stairs toward the Capitol, the agent’s affidavit said.

According to the FBI, Renick was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol through the east rotunda door. After entering the building, Resnick joined others in trying to open a door that a police officer was trying to hold closed, the FBI said. Another officer who tried to stop Rennick was tackled to the ground by a different rioter.

Resnick grabbed other rioters and dragged them into the Capitol after they failed to open the doors, according to the affidavit. It said he spent about 50 minutes inside the Capitol before leaving.