Marine stationed at Quantico charged in Capitol riot

An active duty U.S. Marine stationed at Quantico and living in Woodbridge has been charged with assaulting police officers and other crimes during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the FBI announced Thursday.

Major Christopher Warnagiris, 40, of Woodbridge, a commissioned officer stationed at the Marine Corps Base Quantico was arrested Thursday in Virginia.

Warnagiris is charged with federal offenses that include assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; and obstruction of justice, among other charges, the FBI said in a news release.

Warnagiris made his initial court appearance today at 2 p.m. in the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to court documents and security camera footage, Warnagiris "violently entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, after pushing through a line of police officers guarding the East Rotunda doors," the FBI said.

Once inside, Warnagiris positioned himself in the corner of the doorway, using his body to keep the door open and pull others inside, according to the criminal complaint. When a U.S. Capitol Police officer tried to pull the doors shut, Warnagiris refused and continued pushing it open, the court record states.

Warnagiris can be seen pushing the officer in an effort to maintain his position in the open door in security camera footage and publicly available video footage captured shortly after 2:25 p.m., the FBI said.

Warnagiris has been stationed at Quantico since last summer, the FBI said. He was identified as a suspect in the Capitol breach after a former coworker recognized him in FBI wanted photos.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.