California man seen fighting with police at U.S. Capitol attack is arrested and charged
Federal agents arrested an Orange County man Monday who they said was seen fighting with police officers on the steps and in a tunnel behind the inaugural platform of the U.S. Capitol Building during the Jan. 6 attack by thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
Federal documents show Kim Michael Sorgente was taken into custody when U.S. Marshals served a search warrant for him in Santa Ana. He was later released and ordered to appear in the courtroom of Judge Robin Meriweather, a magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., via video conference on Nov. 4.
In a complaint unsealed Tuesday, an FBI agent who tracked down Sorgente said he was seen on security camera footage and on the body-worn cameras of Capitol police attempting with other rioters to get inside the building as Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence certified the election as president of Joe Biden.
“How dare you? How dare you, traitors?” a man identified as Sorgente screamed through a megaphone after he stumbled to the ground amid a mob of rioters scuffling with Capitol police over a metal barricade. “How dare you traitors?”
According to the complaint, that incident at 1:34 p.m. was the first time Sorgente was spotted that day during the riot. The investigating FBI agent said Sorgente was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat and a T shirt with the words “Deus Vult” (God wills it) on it, while carrying a pink phone and the white megaphone.
About a half hour later, he was seen approaching the inauguration platform with hundreds of other people, continuing to move toward the Capitol Building as a voice over a loudspeaker instructed them that they were entering a restricted area.
At 2:41 p.m., Sorgente had made his way to the tunnel where U.S. presidents walk out to be inaugurated, according to stills of video footage included in the complaint. Dozens of people were already jammed inside the tunnel fighting with police.
Sorgente went inside for one minute, then left. But he returned about 10 minutes later as others were crushing officers blocking them using a human-wave tactic. He joined the rioters in the tunnel in rocking back-and-forth trying to dislodge the officers in front of them packing the hallway, according to the complaint.
He was at the tunnel for about two hours helping rioters fight with police, officials allege. At one point, they allege, Sorgente picked up a police riot shield and used it to push a man in front of him further into the police line.
Sorgente was apparently there as Rosanne Boyland, a 34-year-old Georgia woman, was trampled to death just outside the tunnel entrance when a mass of people were pushed out. The video footage from a Capitol officer captured Sorgente screaming for someone to save Boyland.
“Get her up. Get her up, please,” Sorgente could be heard saying in video footage. “Save her life. Save her life.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Sorgente with one count each of obstructing police officers during a riot, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct inside a restricted building.
He faces 15.5 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Sorgente was not arrested on the day of the Capitol riot, but he was later taken into custody in March by the Santa Ana Police Department.
Sorgente had made other appearances at local rallies that turned violent in 2020: The FBI got his cell phone number from a Santa Ana Police Department detective who was investigating him for a December 2020 assault during a rally near Santa Ana College.
According to New Santa Ana, a local news blog, Sorgente was accused of hitting another person over the head with a megaphone at a Dec. 6, 2020 “Stop the Steal” rally.
Santa Ana police were investigating Sorgente for that assault when he appeared at the Capitol riot. According to the FBI complaint, a Santa Ana detective called Sorgente on his cell phone on Jan. 4, just two days before the attack .
Sorgente was arrested by Santa Ana police in March. The Orange County District Attorney’s office charged Sorgente with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He was later released in June after posting a $100,000 bond.
Sorgente has pleaded not guilty to the assaults and is still awaiting trial in that case
It was not clear if Sorgente had an attorney yet for the federal case. Public defenders assigned to him for the alleged Santa Ana assaults did not return requests for comment or were not available Tuesday.
A phone number listed for Sorgente was disconnected Tuesday.