A bullhorn-wielding Pennsylvania woman breached the U.S. Capitol with her husband on Jan. 6, took selfies in Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office, then kicked a cop in the groin on her way out, according to a federal complaint unsealed Thursday.
Jeanette Mangia, 44, and Joseph Pastucci, 49, were arrested by FBI agents in New Cumberland on Wednesday, more than two years after the failed pro-Trump insurrection. They each face nine criminal counts, court records show.
The pair got into the building around 2:15 p.m. that day, just minutes after the first wave of Trump supporters smashed windows on either side of the Senate Wing Door, which they quickly unlocked, allowing the crowd to start flowing inside, the complaint states.
Pastucci (red) and Mangia (yellow) in Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Once there, Pastucci, in a camouflage-print “Veterans for Trump” hat and a blue Yamaha jacket, and Mangia, who had on a blue Trump hat with a red-and-white megaphone in her hand, hung a left and began moving toward to Lower Senate Corridors, the complaint goes on. (It does not say whether or not Pastucci actually served.)
“Pastucci and Mangia entered the Speaker’s office suite shortly before 2:36 p.m.,” it says. “Inside of the office Mangia took a seat in a chair and appeared to instruct Pastucci to take a photograph of her.”
Twelve minutes later, Mangia and Pastucci followed a band of rioters to the second-floor Senate Chamber, according to the complaint, which says the couple then allegedly “walked up and down the aisle for several minutes before sitting down” in seats assigned to Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and then-Sen. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, both Republicans.
“Pastucci pulled a phone out of his jacket pocket and appeared to type briefly on it,” the complaint states.
Pastucci (red) and Mangia (yellow) in the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Mangia and Pastucci, who was carrying an American flag, remained in the Senate Chamber for “at least” 13 minutes, according to the complaint.The pair headed back down to the ground floor at roughly 3:04 p.m., but refused to obey D.C. Metro cops and U.S. Capitol cops telling them to leave, the complaint says.
“An MPD officer had to physically push Pastucci out of the Capitol and through the Senate Carriage Door as Pastucci resisted the officer’s efforts the entire way out of the Capitol and through the Carriage Door, including grabbing a wooden table by a metal detector and pulling against it as the officer attempted to get him to leave the area,” it continues. “Mangia also refused to leave the Capitol after being instructed. Upon being instructed and as Pastucci was being removed, Mangia confronted the officers. USCP officers had to physically lift Mangia off the ground and carry her in the direction of the Carriage Door.”
Mangia (circled in yellow) seen kicking an officer’s groin on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Mangia then “flailed in the officer’s arms, fell to the floor, and refused to get back up,” according to the complaint, alleging that Mangia rolled onto her back and began kicking her legs at the officers dragging her out.
“Once officers were finally able [to] drag Mangia out of the Capitol, she kicked a USCP officer in the groin area,” the complaint states. Pastucci then “shoved him in the chest and shoulder area.”
After being ejected, Mangia and Pastucci rushed the building again at 3:21 p.m., and pushed their way back in, according to the complaint. Over the next two minutes, the feds say the couple “maneuvered their way to head of this crowd” as the “line of officers gave way.”
“As such, Pastucci and Mangia were the last two people to enter the Rotunda before officers were able to close the door and stop the flow of rioters,” the complaint says.At 3:24 p.m., Pastucci—now back in the Capitol Rotunda—told cops desperately trying to clear the area that he and his wife wanted to leave. They did so by 3:27 p.m., waving at cops on the way out.
Pastucci (circled in red) seen fighting a police officer inside the Capitol.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
A tipster identified Pastucci to the FBI in November 2022 “ based on Pastucci’s profile on a dating website in which he appeared in photographs wearing the same distinctive blue, Yamaha-branded jacket that he wore on January 6, 2021,” the complaint says.The FBI then determined Mangia and Pastucci were married, confirming their identities with local cops, who’d had “prior interactions with them.”
Neither one has a lawyer listed in court records. Calls to their cell phones by The Daily Beast on Thursday went directly to voicemail.
