A Manhattan man who previously worked as editor of The Jewish Press found himself in handcuffs Thursday for his alleged participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors announced.
Elliot Resnick, 39, was allegedly part of the mob of Trump supporters, white supremacists and militia members who attacked the Capitol more than two years ago in a concerted effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. At the time, Resnick was the chief editor of The Jewish Press, which professes to be the largest Jewish weekly newspaper in America.
Prosecutors said Resnick was taken into custody at his Manhattan home on March 16. He faces charges of obstruction of justice, civil disorder, assaulting officers, disorderly conduct, and entering a restricted building, among other criminal counts.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, Resnick traveled to Washington, DC on Jan. 6, 2021 and was not a “peaceful protester.” He and thousands of others had converged upon the Capitol after a rally that then-President Donald Trump held near the White House, during which Trump spouted numerous lies about the election being stolen from him.
Federal agents allege that Resnick was among a mass of protesters who rushed up the East Steps and forced their way into the East Rotunda. During the attack, prosecutors alleged, Resnick moved with the crowd — gesturing for others to join and physically obstructing the efforts of Capitol police officers to control the mob.
In one instance, according to the charges, Resnick allegedly grabbed hold of a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was using pepper spray to try to prevent the insurrectionists from breaching the East Rotunda. The officers’ efforts to stop the attackers were to no avail, prosecutors said, and Resnick was allegedly one of the first marauders to enter the East Rotunda, at about 2:26 p.m. on that day of infamy.
By then, the insurrectionists had besieged the heart of America’s democracy — leaving numerous Capitol police officers injured, and forcing and House and Senate members, including the vice president, into lockdown.
As for Resnick, prosecutors said, he was inside the Capitol for close to an hour, and allegedly abetted in allowing other protesters to come inside. He was caught on camera numerous times by media members and Metropolitan Police Department officers who responded to the attack.
Resnick finally left the Capitol about 3:14 p.m., but was still spotted loitering the restricted Capitol grounds an hour later, federal agents noted.
The criminal complaint notes that an acquaintance of Resnick, who had known him since childhood, tipped the FBI off to his alleged participation in the Capitol attack in June 2021. Resnick had left The Jewish Press the previous month, in May, after spending 14 years with the publication.
The investigation found that Resnick made a number of inflammatory posts on social media channels Twitter and Parler in which he parroted various aspects of “The Big Lie” — making baseless allegations about media lies, illegal votes and violations of election law, none of which were upheld in court.
Resnick faces up to five years behind bars if convicted of the top charges.
He’s the latest in a string of New Yorkers who have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack. Last week, retired NYPD officer Sara Carpenter, of Queens, was found guilty of civil disorder and obstruction of a federal proceeding, and faces up to five years in prison.
With AP reports
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