Accused Jan. 6 Rioter From Westport To Plead Guilty: Report

WESTPORT, CT — Benjamin Cohen, a Westport resident arrested in connection with the violent breach of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will plead guilty and not stand trial in the case, The Hour reported.

Cohen, 22, was arrested in August 2023 and charged with:

• Civil disorder
• Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers
• Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds
• Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
• Engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds
• Engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds or buildings

He reportedly will plead guilty to the single count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, a felony. His sentencing date was not immediately known.

According to court documents, Cohen was identified by law enforcement as being among the crowd of rioters gathered along a police line on the West Plaza of the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6.

He was allegedly seen in surveillance footage "making physical contact with the group of officers by pushing and shoving them with his hands as the crowd surges forward," and also rushing "toward the officers again, shoving and striking officers with his hands."

Cohen and his mother reportedly attended the political rally in Washington, DC, earlier that day, but Cohen is accused of joining the rioters; his mother told law enforcement that she had lost contact with her son as they got closer to the Capitol.

Read The Hour story.