Two men with ties to Hancock County received their formal charges during a hearing in federal court this week surrounding events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Israel Tutrow, Greenfield, appeared via video before Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia along with Joshua Wagner, Indianapolis, who has also been charged. Both men, who are facing four charges related to entering the Capitol, pleaded not guilty.
The two previously attended Greenfield-Central High School. Tutrow went to G-C before transferring, while Wagner is listed as a 2016 graduate. They traveled together to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, court records show.
According to charging documents published by federal authorities, Tutrow and Wagner entered the building unlawfully on the day hundreds of people breached it attempting to prevent certification of the presidential election. The charges against them include violent entry into the Capitol and disorderly conduct. During the arraignment hearing, held Monday, May 3, prosecutors read formal charges but did not provide additional information on the government’s case against the two.
Another video conference is set for 10:45 a.m. Thursday, July 1. The defendants, meanwhile, remain free on personal recognizance bonds. Court documents state Tutrow, who was arrested on Jan. 27, was released from custody in early February and is not allowed to travel outside the Southern District of Indiana without prior notice, and the court must approve all travel outside the United States. He was also ordered to stay away from the Washington, D.C., area except for court hearings or meetings with his attorney. He was also ordered to submit to drug testing and drug treatment.
Another Hoosier, Jon Ryan Shaffer, in April became the first person to plead guilty to charges in connection to the insurrection at the Capitol. Schaffer, who authorities have described as a “founding lifetime member” of the extremist Oath Keepers militia group, has agreed to cooperate with investigators, and in return the Justice Department has promised to consider putting him in the federal witness security program. Schaffer may prove useful to prosecutors in perhaps their most serious case against 12 members and associates of the Oath Keepers accused of conspiring with one another to block the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
