Man arrested for throwing bottle at Capitol Police, stealing helmet as ‘war trophy’ on Jan. 6

A New Hampshire man has been arrested on multiple felony charges for allegedly throwing a water bottle at police and stealing a helmet as a “war trophy” during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a Tuesday release that 22-year-old Richard Zachary Ackerman, of Salem, was part of the mob of rioters that illegally formed on the Capitol grounds during the attack, including at the Capitol’s lower west terrace, near an archway and a tunnel that leads into the building. 

Court documents claim Ackerman found a U.S. Capitol Police officer’s helmet and wore it during the riot. He referred to it as his “war trophy” and took it back to New Hampshire with him. 

During the attack, Ackerman allegedly threw a water bottle at a line of officers who were positioned at the entrance of the tunnel to the Capitol building. 

The FBI eventually reclaimed the helmet from Ackerman’s home in June 2022, according to the release. 

A statement of facts laying out the case against Ackerman states a sticker with a black flag and the words “New England 131” was placed on the helmet. The officer who wrote the statement said he knows based on his training and experience that the label refers to National Socialist Club 131, a neo-Nazi group with small regional chapters in the U.S. and around the world, and the “White Defense Force.” 

He was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, civil disorder, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and theft of government property. 

The FBI’s Boston and Washington, D.C., field offices are conducting the investigation into Ackerman and received assistance from Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the Manchester and Salem police departments in New Hampshire. 

The release states more than 1,000 people have been arrested in almost all 50 states on charges in relation to the attack in the 29 months since it occurred. That includes almost 350 people who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.