The second of two Arkansas men arrested following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S Capitol was brought before a federal judge in Little Rock Tuesday for his initial appearance to hear the charges he is facing in connection with his part in the melee.
Peter Francis Stager, 41, of Conway was charged Thursday in federal court in the District of Columbia with one count of obstructing a police officer from his duties during a civil disorder, according to a complaint, following accusations that he was the man caught on video beating a police officer with a pole to which was attached an American flag as rioters streamed up the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The rioters breached security and flooded into the building in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral votes that showed President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
He appeared Tuesday before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray at the Richard Arnold Sheppard Federal Courthouse in Little Rock via video link from the Pulaski County jail where he has been held for federal authorities since his arrest.
Stager was arrested Thursday by the FBI and Conway police at the office of a lawyer, said Ryan Kennedy, a supervisory special agent with the FBI in Little Rock. Afterward, agents searched Stager’s home.
Ray ordered Stager held until a bond hearing scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. to determine if he will be eligible for pre-trial release.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.