Editor’s note: Barry Saturday reached out to LEX 18 asking for a clarification regarding our interview with Saturday’s neighbor that was included in our broadcast. In that interview, the neighbor commented, “He’s come up to me when we first met and talked about overthrowing the government and stuff like that.” Saturday said he does not know the neighbor and did not say that to the neighbor.
The FBI arrested a Lexington man on Tuesday for his alleged role in the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
According to his arrest warrant and a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, 43-year-old Barry Saturday is charged with the following:
- Civil Disorder
- Knowingly Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds
- Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds
- Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building
Saturday was identified as being part of a group of rioters who pushed against a line of police officers at the Lower West Terrace tunnel of the Capitol, according to the affidavit.
Footage captured on January 6 showed Saturday trying to get into the tunnel and retreating multiple times before eventually helping the crowd in a “heave-ho” against a line of police trying to guard the tunnel, according to the affidavit.
The “heave-ho” against the officers was described in the affidavit as a loud, chaotic scene that left officers crushed at the back of the tunnel. But a few minutes later, the officers were able to push the rioters out of the tunnel. According to the affidavit, Saturday was among the group pushed out and appeared in footage to be suffering the effects of pepper spray.
After being pushed out of the tunnel, a group grabbed two officers and dragged them away from the rest of the police and into the crowd of rioters. Saturday was not part of the group that dragged the officers but moved through the crowd to get closer to the officers who were dragged before disappearing into the crowd, according to the affidavit.
FBI investigators used a facial comparison tool that compared the images from the Capitol tunnel with open-source photos found on publicly available websites and social media sites. According to the affidavit, the tool found matches on websites, including the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Middlesboro News.
In 2018 and 2019, FBI agents in Lexington interviewed Saturday after he reported that he was the victim of cyber intrusion – the investigation found no evidence of cyber intrusion. The FBI agents who interviewed him in that case viewed the videos from the tunnel and concluded that Saturday was the man in the January 6 footage, according to the affidavit.
Saturday was a candidate for Lexington City Council District 4 in 2018 and 2022.
This 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. The investigation remains ongoing.
