Cleveland, Tennessee, man arrested in connection with Jan. 6 Capitol riot

A Cleveland, Tennessee, man has been arrested and accused of entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Chad Hedgcock is the second man from Cleveland arrested in connection with the 2021 Capitol attack and the latest of more than two dozen Tennesseans who have been charged, some of whom have already been convicted and sentenced to years in prison.

Federal agents arrested Hedgock in Chattanooga on May 24 and charged him with four misdemeanor counts. According to prosecutors, Hedgock was in the Capitol building for five minutes.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press first reported his arrest.

Security video shows Hedgcock entering the Capitol building through the Parliamentarian Doors while recording with his cell phone at about 2:55 p.m., according to a complaint attached to Hedgcock's arrest warrant accessed in online court records. After walking around for a few minutes, Hedgcock walked out through the same door at 3 p.m., the complaint states.

At about 3:13 p.m., Hedgcock approached the Senate Wing Door but did not enter the building, according to the complaint.

The FBI identified Hedgcock through phone records, online articles and social media, where he was photographed wearing a "Keep America Great" hat that he also appeared to wear while in the Capitol, according to the complaint.

One article agents used to identify him concerned the arrest of his wife and was posted to a local conservative blog in 2022. His wife was charged with criminal trespassing in February of that year for allegedly refusing to wear a mask in a medical facility, the Times Free Press reported.

Agents tried to interview him twice in 2022, but Hedgcock declined to be interviewed both times, telling an agent on one occasion, "We don't talk to cops," the complaint states.

The other man from Cleveland, Joseph Lino Padilla, is accused of fighting officers at a barricade outside the Capitol and later throwing a flag pole toward a group of law enforcement huddled in a doorway, according to federal court records.

Padilla was convicted of several felonies and was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

A mob of protesters descended on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent a joint session of Congress from counting Electoral College votes and certifying President Joe Biden's win of the 2020 election. They were encouraged by former President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed the election was "stolen" from him. Several people died as a result of the attack, including one person who was shot to death.

Based on a database on the U.S. Department of Justice's website, more than 1,200 people nationwide have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. You can read about cases with Tennessee ties here.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Cleveland, Tennessee, man arrested in connection with Jan. 6 Capitol riot