随着联邦特工继续逮捕与上周国会大厦致命骚乱有关的人，退休军人出现在通缉令和指控文件上的人数惊人，这一趋势使专家们越来越担心极端主义和准军事团体的危险诱惑。
美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)通过法庭文件、律师声明和军事记录证实，迄今为止，因参与暴乱而被捕的人中，至少有9人已被证实是美国军队的前成员。
实际数字可能更高。周四，美国联邦调查局局长克里斯·雷称，该局已经做出了超过100人被捕与暴乱有关，预计会有更多。
“大量与执法部门或军方有联系的人已经被捕或显然正在接受调查，这表明在这些领域有更深层次的极右同情者，”国家安全委员会前反恐高级主任贾韦德·阿里说。
多年来，一些专家一直在为这个问题敲响警钟。
据美国司法部(Department of Justice)称，在上周袭击后被捕的前军方人员中，有拉里·伦德尔·布洛克(Larry Rendell Brock)，他与埃里克·加夫莱克·芒奇尔(Eric Gavelek Munchel)一起闯入国会大厦，两人都穿着军装和装备，包括拉链领带。田纳西州的芒奇尔和德克萨斯州的布洛克是首批被捕的人之一，联邦调查局特工试图确定他们是否参与了将议员扣为人质的阴谋。
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2021年1月6日，携带拉链的抗议者进入华盛顿国会大厦的参议院会议厅。
空军向美国广播公司证实，布洛克中校在服役20多年后于2014年退休，并指出他在2007年之前一直担任A-10飞行员。
据美联社报道，布洛克于周四被释放回家监禁。布洛克在接受《纽约客》采访时说，“总统要求他的支持者出席，我觉得这很重要，因为我有多爱这个国家，所以我真的要去。”他还没有提出抗辩。
其他被捕者包括大卫·莱斯特·罗斯(David Lester Ross)，他是马萨诸塞州国民警卫队的前成员，根据逮捕记录，他于1月6日在国会大厦附近被拘留，因为他“至少三次没有服从”官员的驱散警告。罗斯在周四的传讯中辩称无罪，并被释放，并被命令远离华盛顿特区。美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)联系到他时，他的律师达瑞·丹尼尔斯(Darry Daniels)拒绝置评。
周五，美国广播公司新闻证实，在视频中看到的戴着警察盾牌打碎国会大厦窗户的人是一名前海军陆战队员。海军陆战队告诉美国广播公司新闻，多米尼克·佩佐拉作为步兵突击队员在海军陆战队服役了七年。他获得了国防服务奖章。
据美国联邦调查局(FBI)称，佩佐拉于周五上午被拘留，他说，他与照片中看到的“在国会大厦内抽雪茄”的人是同一个人。
本周早些时候，美国联邦调查局询问了一名前后备海军海豹突击队在脸书视频中吹嘘道关于“突破国会大厦”视频显示，来自俄亥俄州里斯本的45岁的亚当·纽博尔德(Adam Newbold)在从华盛顿回家的路上坐在车里，告诉他的脸书粉丝，他想让立法者“三思他们在做什么”，让他们“穿着鞋子发抖”。
周二接受美国广播公司新闻采访时，纽博尔德恳求原谅他的参与，他说:“我不是恐怖分子。我不是叛徒。”
美国军事人员和军官在入伍时宣誓，“支持和捍卫美国宪法，反对一切国内外的敌人。”
玛丽·麦科德(Mary McCord)是一名长期的国家安全专家，现在经营着乔治敦法律学院的宪法倡导和保护学院，她告诉美国广播公司新闻，军人的激进化以及他们参与上周的国会大厦暴乱对她来说并不奇怪，而且长期以来一直是一个问题。
“一些非法民兵专门从军队中招募人员，因为他们在火器、爆炸物和战术技能方面的专业知识，”麦科德解释说。“继续执行任务的想法对前军人非常有吸引力，尤其是如果他们在意识形态上倾向于非法民兵组织的话。”
麦科德称之为“一个严重的问题”，并表示这是军方“应该解决的问题”——无论是现役军人还是前军人。
自上周以来，要求对参与暴乱的前军人进行纪律处分的呼声越来越高。
亚利桑那州众议员鲁本·加列戈(Ruben Gallego)说:“我认为我们应该尽最大可能地向他们扔书。如果你不在现役岗位上，我想找出一种方法，我们可以把你带回来，并对你提出指控。”
“如果你被判有罪，我们应该可以剥夺你的利益，”加列戈补充道。
服役20年后退休的军事人员有权享受每月军饷、国防部医疗保健和健康计划以及军粮供应等福利。那些在服役20年前离开的人没有军队退休工资或获得国防部的军事护理，但可以获得退伍军人事务福利，如医疗保健和住房贷款。
周一，伊利诺伊州参议员谭美·达克沃斯。，给代理国防部长克里斯·米勒写了一封信，要求国防部的犯罪调查组织与联邦调查局和国会警察合作，调查可能参与袭击的现任和退休军人。在信中，她敦促米勒“采取适当行动，根据《军事司法统一法典》追究个人责任。”
杜克沃斯写道:“维护良好的秩序和纪律要求美国武装部队根除渗入军队并威胁我们国家安全的极端分子。”。
不过，在法庭上，退伍军人一直在援引他们的军事背景，寻求法庭的特别考虑——或者唐纳德·特朗普总统的赦免。
“我的当事人打过仗——在军队服役，光荣服役。没有任何犯罪背景，”雅各布·单斯利(又名杰克·安格利)的律师说，他在暴乱中被拍到穿着角和车身油漆。“和我们国家许多其他被剥夺权利的人一样，他觉得自己非常、非常、非常坚定地与特朗普总统保持一致。”
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2021年1月6日，DC，一名抗议者在参议院大喊。
美国广播公司新闻已经证实，汉斯莱曾经是一名海军供应文员。
根据司法部对案件事实的陈述，弗吉尼亚州警察托马斯·罗伯逊(Thomas Robertson)和雅各布·弗莱克(Jacob Fracker)似乎在国会大厦的约翰·斯塔克(John Stark)雕像前张贴了一张他们竖起中指的照片。据DOJ文件显示，暴乱发生后，罗伯逊多次为自己的参与辩护，称自己为这张照片感到“自豪”，因为他“愿意参与这场游戏”。
根据洛基山镇的一份声明，这两名官员已被行政休假，他们都在那里工作。在接受当地媒体采访时，罗伯逊说他和Fracker“没有参与任何暴力或财产损失”，并建议国会警察允许他们进入大楼。
军方向美国广播公司证实，弗莱克目前是弗吉尼亚国民警卫队的下士，尽管他们强调，他目前不在华盛顿特区的弗吉尼亚国民警卫队服役。
他们在一份声明中说:“军队承诺与联邦调查局密切合作，确定参与国会大厦暴力袭击的人，以确定这些人是否与军队有任何联系。”
罗伯逊被捕后在联邦法官面前出庭，他称自己有23年的军事经验，这是他在审判前不应被拘留的原因。
法官同意并下令保释罗伯逊。
Nearly a dozen ex-military members among those arrested in connection with Capitol riot
Retired military servicemen are turning up in alarming numbers on wanted posters and in charging documents as federal agents continue their sweep of arrests tied to the deadly riot at the Capitol last week, a trend that has experts increasingly concerned about the dangerous allure of extremist and paramilitary groups.
So far at least nine of those arrested for participating in the riot have been confirmed to be former members of the U.S. military, ABC News has confirmed through court files, lawyer statements, and military records.
The actual number is likely higher. On Thursday, FBI Director Chris Wray said the bureau has madeover 100 arrestsin connection with the riot, with many more anticipated.
"The large number of individuals with ties to law enforcement or the military already arrested or apparently now under investigation suggests a deeper level of far-right sympathizers in these fields," said Javed Ali, a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
Some experts have been sounding alarm bells about the issue for years.
Among the ex-military arrested following last week's attack was Larry Rendell Brock, who invaded the Capitol alongside Eric Gavelek Munchel, with both of them sporting military uniforms and gear, including zip ties, according to the Department of Justice. Munchel, of Tennessee, and Brock, of Texas, were among the first arrests as FBI agents sought to determine whether they could have been engaged in a plot to take lawmakers hostage.
The Air Force confirmed to ABC News that Lt. Col. Brock retired in 2014 after more than two decades of service, noting he had served as an A-10 pilot until 2007.
Brock was released to home confinement on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. In an interview with The New Yorker, Brock said, "The president asked for his supporters to be there to attend, and I felt like it was important, because of how much I love this country, to actually be there." He has not yet entered a plea.
Other arrested individuals include David Lester Ross, a former member of the Massachusetts National Guard, who was taken into custody on Jan. 6 near the Capitol building after he "did not obey at least three warnings" from officers to disperse, according to arrest records. Ross pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Thursday, and was released and ordered to stay away from D.C. His lawyer, Darry Daniels, declined to comment when reached by ABC News.
On Friday, ABC News confirmed the man seen on video smashing through the window of the Capitol building with a police shield is a former Marine. The man, Dominic Pezzola, was in the Marines for seven years as an infantry assault man, the Marine Corps told ABC News. He had won a National Defense Service Medal.
Pezzola was taken into custody Friday morning, according to the FBI, who said he is the same person seen in images "smoking a cigar inside the Capitol building."
Earlier this week, the FBI questioned a former reserve Navy SEAL after heboasted in a Facebook videoabout "breaching the Capitol." The video shows Adam Newbold, 45, from Lisbon, Ohio, whom the Navy confirmed is a retired reserve SEAL special warfare operator, in a car on his return home from Washington, telling his Facebook followers that he had wanted to make lawmakers "think twice about what they're doing" and leave them "shaking in their shoes."
When reached by ABC News on Tuesday, Newbold pleaded for forgiveness for his participation, saying: "I am not a terrorist. I am not a traitor."
In the oath they take upon enlisting, U.S. military personnel and officers swear to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Mary McCord, a longtime national security expert who now runs Georgetown Law's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, told ABC News that the radicalization of military servicemen and their participation in the Capitol riot last week isn't surprising to her and has long been an issue.
"Some unlawful militias specifically recruit from the military because of their expertise in firearms, explosives, and tactical skills," McCord explained. "And the idea of continuing to have a mission can be very appealing to ex-military, especially if they are predisposed ideologically with the unlawful militias."
McCord called it "a serious problem" and said it's something that the military "should be addressing" -- both with respect to active duty and former military members.
Calls for discipline against former military members who participated in the riot have been growing since last week.
"I think we should throw the book at them, to the furthest extent possible," said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. "If you're off active duty, I want to figure out a way we can bring you back and charge you."
"And if you're convicted, we should be able to take your benefits away," Gallego added.
Military personnel who retire after 20 years of service are entitled to benefits like monthly military retirement pay, access to Department of Defense medical care and health plans, and access to military commissaries. Those who leave prior to 20 years of service get no military retirement pay or access to DOD military care, but do have access to Veterans Affairs benefits like health care and home loans.
On Monday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller requesting that the Defense Department's criminal investigative organizations work with the FBI and Capitol Police to investigate current and retired military members who may have participated in the attack. In the letter she urged Miller "to take appropriate action to hold individuals accountable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
"Upholding good order and discipline demands that the U.S. Armed Forces root out extremists that infiltrate the military and threaten our national security," wrote Duckworth.
In court, though, ex-servicemen have been citing their military backgrounds in seeking special consideration from the court -- or pardons from President Donald Trump.
"My client fought -- was in the military, served honorably. No criminal background whatsoever," said the attorney for Jacob Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, the man who was photographed during the riot wearinghorns and body paint. "And he, like a lot of other disenfranchised people in our country, felt very, very, very solidly in sync with President Trump."
ABC News has confirmed that Chansley used to be a Navy supply clerk.
And Virginia police officers Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker appear to have posted a photo of themselves with their middle fingers raised, in front of the statue of John Stark in the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice's statement of facts in the case. After the riot, Robertson repeatedly defended his participation, saying he was "proud" of the photo because he "was willing to put skin in the game," according to the DOJ document.
The two officers have been put on administrative leave, according to a statement from the town of Rocky Mount, where they both work. During an interview with a local media outlet, Robertson said he and Fracker "did not participate in any violence or property damage," and suggested that Capitol Police allowed them into the building.
The Army confirmed to ABC News that Fracker is a current corporal in the Virginia National Guard, though they emphasized that he is not on duty with the Virginia National Guard troops currently in D.C.
"The Army is committed to working closely with the FBI as they identify people who participated in the violent attack on the Capitol to determine if the individuals have any connection to the Army," they said in a statement.
Appearing before a federal judge following his arrest, Robertson cited what he described as 23 years of military experience as the reason he should not be detained pending trial.
The judge agreed and ordered Robertson released on bond.
