Metro-North Worker Charged with Storming U.S. Capitol Building
The Putnam County Metro-North worker who infiltrated the U.S. Capitol last week appeared in federal court on Wednesday where he was charged for the part he played in the attack.
Will Pepe, a seven-year laborer at Metro-North’s Brewster rail yard, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without law authority, according to the Department of Justice. He was arrested by the FBI at his home in Beacon on Tuesday.
The MTA suspended the 31-year-old without pay last Friday after a photo was released of him inside the Capitol. An investigation conducted by the MTA revealed that Pepe had used sick leave to travel to Washington, D.C. to attend the insurrection, according to the DOJ.
Transit officials intend to fire him, The New York Post reported, with rioting the Capitol building a violation of federal law.
“Participation in the riot which resulted in deadly violence at the Capitol last week was abhorrent to the values of the MTA and New Yorkers, and those who attacked that symbol of American democracy disqualified themselves from working for the People of New York,” MTA spokesman Tim Minton told The Post on Tuesday.
“Mr. Pepe is entitled to due process and was suspended last week as part of that process.”
Pepe was part of a mob of Trump supporters that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 while Congress was in the midst of certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election win, causing widespread damage, and sending the nation’s capital into lockdown. The riot also resulted in five fatalities.
Pepe’s photo was one of many released by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the FBI last week in a mass effort to identify suspects. On Wednesday, Pepe was one of seven people charged in connection to the riots.
The FBI is asking anyone who recognizes someone from the wanted posters or who witnessed any of Wednesday’s activity to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit information online here.
