Topless Capitol protester caught when reporter tells him he was on camera at January insurrection

Man pictured at riot claims he is ‘documentarian’ when asked why he attended on 6 January

An alleged participant in the attack on the Capitol said he “would like not to comment” on whether he was the person depicted in photos published by the FBI.

While shirtless and on his doorstep Chase Allen, of Seeknok, Massachusetts, was asked by WPRI, a Rhode Island news channel, what he was doing at the insurrection, and he described himself as a “documentarian” and compared his work to other broadcast journalists.

“I’m a documentarian,” he said. “As like when you guys, when you guys hear something, you show up as you do now, and ask questions or record and see what happens. That’s what I was doing.”

The reporter, Shiina LoSciuto, then mentioned that federal investigators have published photos of Mr Allen “reportedly stomping on camera equipment” while standing outside the grounds of the US Capitol building.

She proceeded to ask, “Is that you in that picture?” as the stills flashed upon the screen.

In response, Mr Allen said, “I would like not to comment on that at this time, but I’m working everything out with the courts and whatnot and that’s that.”

Ms LoScuito tweeted a video of the interview on 1 July: “We just interviewed the Seekonk man facing federal charges in relation to the January 6th Capitol Riot.”

In addition to her video, she tweeted that Mr Allen had said “he is not a Trump supporter” and “at the time of the interview he told us he doesn’t have a lawyer yet” and “he doesn’t hate the media”.

According to a federal criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court on 21 June, Mr Allen is currently up against two counts related to his alleged involvement of the insurrection.

He stands indicted on one charge of destruction to property in special maritime or territorial jurisdiction and one charge of an act of physical violence.

The documents state that Mr Allen was a part of a group who “began to destroy the equipment, including cameras, tripods, lights, shades, and remote broadcasting equipment that belonged to various media outlets”.

According to prosecutors, they “yelled inflammatory rhetoric against the members of the media. One member of the media who was forced to flee the scene”. Roughly $30,000 worth of damage was done, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors were able to identify Mr Allen after finding his YouTube channel, known as The Allen Report, the document states.