WASHINGTON - A D.C. chiropractor who stormed the halls of Congress on January 6 was arrested Wednesday on federal charges as FBI special agents descended on his office just blocks from the Capitol.
A source familiar with the case confirmed to NBC News the arrest of David Walls-Kaufman of the Capitol Hill Chiropractic Center. It was not immediately clear where Walls-Kaufman was arrested.
An FBI official confirmed that the bureau was conducting law enforcement activities at the location of Walls-Kaufman's office. An independent witness confirmed law enforcement activity at the office.
The case against Walls-Kaufman has not been unveiled, but the source familiar with the case said he would make a court appearance Thursday, the same day the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot holds its first public hearing.
NBC News reached out to Walls-Kaufman's lawyer for comment.
Walls-Kaufman was identified by online sleuths in August. Images and videos released in other Jan. 6 cases show Walls-Kaufman pulling up his hoodie as he joins the mob forcing its way past officers and into the Capitol building, in the hallway outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. He was seen at the front of the mob by the Speaker's Lobby where rioter Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by police after she jumped through a broken window as members of Congress were evacuating the House floor.
Body camera footage taken from a device worn by the late D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith shows Walls-Kaufman's fist wrapped around Smith's baton as police tried to get rioters out of the Capitol building.
Smith was struck with a flying metal pole on the night of January 6, outside the Capitol. He later told his wife he was punched in the face and hit in the head with a metal pole. Smith died on January 6 by suicide, and his death was ruled as in the line of duty.
Walls-Kaufman, whose Facebook page showed that he promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, is already facing a civil lawsuit from Smith's widow.
More than 820 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and more than 300 have pleaded guilty. Charges ranged from misdemeanor picketing counts to seditious conspiracy.