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Two men seen carrying restraints during Capitol riot charged with federal crimes

They were identified as Larry Rendell Brock of Texas and Eric Gavelek Munchel of Tennessee.
Image: US Capitol riot
Protesters walk by as U.S. Capitol Police officers watch in a hallway near the Senate chamber Wednesday.Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Two men seen carrying zip tie-style restraints when supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol were charged Sunday in federal court, authorities said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia identified the men as Larry Rendell Brock of Texas and Eric Gavelek Munchel of Tennessee.

Brock and Munchel were charged with one count of entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, the office said in a statement.

The men, who were identified by researchers at the University of Toronto, were seen inside the building with the restraints, authorities said.

Brock was wearing a tactical vest and a green helmet, the statement said, and Munchel appeared to have an unidentified item in a holster and a cellphone mounted on his chest.

It wasn't immediately clear Sunday whether they have lawyers. Jail records show that Munchel was booked Sunday afternoon and is being held by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office in Nashville, Tennessee.

It isn't clear where Brock is being held. In an interview with The New Yorker, he described himself as a decorated Air Force veteran who retired from the military in 2014 and began working for Hillwood Airways, a Texas-based carrier that describes itself as a luxury private airline for high-end corporate clients.

The Air Force didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday. A spokesman for Hillwood, James Fuller, said Brock no longer works for the company. He declined to provide additional details.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Brock acknowledged entering the building and said he had traveled to Washington to demonstrate peacefully. He echoed Trump's baseless claims of election fraud, the magazine reported.

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Brock and Munchel had been among dozens of people the FBI is searching for after Wednesday's incursion, in which five people died, including a police officer.

Also facing charges are a West Virginia legislator, an Arizona QAnon supporter seen carrying a 6-foot spear and a Florida man photographed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern.