A suburban tech company executive who was among dozens of people arrested Wednesday in Washington, D.C., after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol has been charged in federal court and fired from his job.
According to a news release Friday from the Department of Justice, Bradley Rukstales, 52, of Inverness, was charged Thursday “with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; or knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”
He is among 13 people charged “so far” in federal court in the District of Columbia, according to the release. U.S. Capitol Police reported Rukstales’ arrest on Thursday.
Rukstales was president and CEO of the Schaumburg-based tech company Cogensia.
Late Friday, a day after he was placed on leave, Cogensia terminated Rukstales. The company said in a news release that Rukstales’ actions were inconsistent with the core values of Cogensia.
Campaign finance records show that he contributed thousands of dollars to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. He could not be reached for comment.
In a statement tweeted by WGN, Rukstales said he followed the crowd inside the Capitol to see what was happening, calling it “the single worst personal decision of my life.”
Another suburban man also was arrested Wednesday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. David Fitzgerald, 48, a tattoo artist from Roselle, was charged with a curfew violation and unlawful entry, according to police records posted online. Court records indicate Fitzgerald pleaded not guilty and is due back before a judge in June.
His wife, Jeanette Fitzgerald, didn’t know the basis of the unlawful entry charge but said her husband did not participate in the storming of the Capitol earlier in the day.
“He wasn’t involved in that,” she said. “My husband is a disabled (Army) veteran. He was just there to peacefully protest and support President Trump. He wasn’t there with anything malicious in mind.”
In a video David Fitzgerald posted to his Facebook page, members of the media and Trump supporters were wandering among police officers, asking how they could leave an area enclosed by fences.
“The guy in the white shirt told us to come this way; he said exit through the rear,” Fitzgerald told an officer.
“Do you have a press pass?” the officer asked.
“No,” Fitzgerald said.
“OK, you have to stay in here,” the officer said.
“There’s a curfew,” another officer said. “You’re under arrest.”
The time stamp on the video is 7:21 p.m. Washington time. The curfew declared by Mayor Muriel Bowser took effect at 6 p.m.
Other videos posted on Fitzgerald’s page Wednesday show him milling among Trump supporters outside the Capitol and getting moved back by police while some shout, “Traitors!”
Meanwhile, a Chicago real estate agent who describes herself as “a big Trump supporter” lost her job for a social media post she made after going to the Capitol.
The Chicago-based firm @properties said on Twitter it fired Libby Andrews after she posted on social media about “storming the Capitol,” saying the company “does not condone violence, destruction or illegal activities.”
But Andrews, 56, said she was unaware anything illegal was happening. She said she traveled to Washington in response to Trump’s call for support — “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he tweeted Dec. 19 — and went directly to the Capitol from the airport.
By the time she got there, she said, people were already all over the Capitol and no one was telling them to leave. She was photographed on the east steps not far from the door, wearing a Trump knit cap and making peace signs in a throng of people, but said she did not enter the building.
“I had no idea people were breaking in and that destruction was happening,” she said. “… It was like a party. There was nothing negative going on at all.”
She said her social media post about “storming the Capitol” was made in jest as she was having a glass of champagne back at her hotel, unaware of the chaos going on inside the historic building.
“I think it’s horrible that somebody broke their way in,” she said. “I think it’s horrible that happened. I condemn acts of violence.”
She said @properties didn’t listen to her side of the story before terminating her employment, but company spokesman Peter Olesker said the decision was made based on the words and photos Andrews posted.
Though the company respects diverse political beliefs and the right to peaceful protest, he said, “we unequivocally condemn the actions yesterday of the people who crossed police lines, threatened the safety of law enforcement and lawmakers, and attempted to threaten our country’s democratic process.
“This agent was not only present for these events, she publicly boasted about them and celebrated them.”
Andrews said she has already gotten another job offer.
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman
