Former Illinois National Guardsman Joseph Bierbrodt pleads guilty to attack on US Capitol on January 6, 2021

CHICAGO (WLS) — A former member of the Illinois National Guard has pleaded guilty to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Joseph Bierbrodt was charged with assaulting the Capitol Police.

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The government shared images from inside the building purportedly showing him and his brother.

Bierbrodt pleaded guilty before a jury trial. He faces sentencing in February.

He was initially charged with eight federal felonies, including trespassing in a prohibited building, causing physical violence and disorderly conduct in a prohibited building.

The FBI said surveillance video showed Bierbrodt’s brother breaking down a locked fire door, allowing the crowd to enter the Capitol, including Bierbrodt, who allegedly wore a red hat and covered his face with an American flag.

Prosecutors say he was confronted by several police officers, pepper sprayed and left bleeding before leaving the Capitol with his brother.

The Illinois National Guard said Bierbrodt retired in 2018.

This is reported by ABC7 Chicago unrelated story involving Bierbrodt in 2018when he escorted the daughter of a fallen soldier to her father-daughter dance. A few months later, he was honored for the gesture on Memorial Day weekend in Chicago.

Federal prosecutors said they used a screenshot apparently from the ABC7 report to help identify him.

See also | Chicago police officer charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack told FBI he enjoyed ‘invading the capital’: document

The defendant’s brother, William Bierbrodt, was also charged with similar federal crimes.

After identifying the brothers as suspects, law enforcement used the images to locate Joseph Bierbrodt in late October 2021 in Sheridan, Illinois. His brother was at his home in Florida.

See also | A man from Chicago was sentenced to 4 years in prison for participating in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol