KY man knocked officer unconscious during Capitol riot, called mob ‘fun,’ FBI says

A Kentucky man accused of knocking a U.S. Capitol police officer unconscious during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot told undercover FBI agents that the riot was “f*****g fun,” according to an affidavit filed into federal court.

Stephen Chase Randolph, a Harrodsburg resident, was arrested by the FBI Tuesday after a months-long effort from federal officials to identify him and investigate his involvement in the riot.

Randolph could be seen in video outside the Capitol “violently pushing and pulling the barricades until the crowd successfully pushed the barricades down on top of the officers” outside the Capitol building, according to an affidavit written by a special agent from the FBI.

Randolph and others knocked over a female Capitol police officer as they lifted the barricades up and pushed towards the Capitol, the FBI said. This caused the officer’s head to hit the stairs behind her and knocked her unconscious.

Randolph then “continued to assault two other USCP officers by physically pushing, shoving, grabbing, and generally resisting the officers,” a special agent wrote in the affidavit.

The altercation occurred on the Pennsylvania Avenue walkway, which is a sidewalk connecting nearby streets to the Capitol building. In order to move past officers and get to the Capitol, Randolph and others had to force their way through metal barricades which had clearly-labeled “area closed” signs on them, according to court records.

After the riot, Randolph was featured in a “seeking information” flier shared by the FBI, according to the affidavit. It featured images of several suspects in the riot.

The FBI found photos of Randolph featured on a Twitter page called @SeditionHunters, according to the affidavit. Investigators were able to match the clothes he was wearing with photos they already had and videos which were publicly available.

Randolph was wearing a grey Carhartt toboggan, a black jacket with a breast pocket on each side and stitching detail on each sleeve, a grey turtleneck, black gloves with a red stripe, and jeans, according to the FBI’s affidavit.

The FBI also used photos from an Instagram account which appeared to belong to Randolph’s girlfriend, according to the affidavit. Randolph was featured in some of the user’s photos and matched the person in the photos from the riot.

After finding Randolph in Kentucky driver’s license records, the FBI tailed him to his workplace on March 3. Agents took photos of him outside his workplace, according to the affidavit. He was photographed wearing the same winter hat that he was wearing the day of the riot. Randolph was identified in several photos online wearing the same hat too.

Over a month later, on April 13, two undercover FBI agents spoke with Randolph and recorded the conversation.

During the conversation, Randolph “admitted attending the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,’ an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. Randolph admitted to participating in the riot, and said he attended former President Donald Trump’s speech in D.C. before going to the Capitol. He said he left Trump’s speech early to go to the Capitol.

“Randolph said he was in this area for approximately 5 minutes before ‘s**t went crazy’ and that he was standing close to people who were throwing items at the police,” a special agent wrote in an affidavit. “Randolph further stated ‘I was in it,’ and ‘It was f*****g fun’ referring to being in the crowd at the U.S. Capitol.

“Randolph said he witnessed a female police officer get pushed over by barricades and that her head had bounced off the handrails by the stairs. Randolph opined that the female police officer likely had a concussion because she was curled up in the fetal position after being pushed to the ground.”

Randolph could be seen in several screenshots violently pushing and pulling on barricades and also getting into confrontations with officers, according to the FBI’s affidavit.

Randolph was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer, causing bodily injury, according to the FBI. He was also charged with obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and obstruction of “Justice/Congress.”

Randolph is at least the 13th Kentucky resident to be arrested over allegedly participating in the Capitol riot, according to court records and previous FBI statements.

His arrest was reported by the FBI Tuesday. He was held in federal custody and was expected to appear in federal court Wednesday.