Trump-loving 'politically incorrect' newspaper editor charged with beating cops at Capitol riot

Former right-wing newspaper editor Elliot Resnick has been indicted on four charges, including felony assault on law enforcement, for his participation in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to new documents filed on Thursday.

Resnick is the former top editor of the Jewish Press, a New York-based site that boasts it has been "politically incorrect long before the phrase was coined." A vocal supporter of Trump, he has previously tweeted that white nationalism doesn't exist and that Black people should abandon Christianity for their "primitive religions" if they "resent America's [sic] so much."

According to a POLITICO report in 2021, Resnick also wrote an impassioned, conspiracy theory-laden defense of the January 6 insurrectionists in the far-right publication American Thinker, claiming that if Democrats want to prevent a similar attack in future, “Don’t steal elections in plain sight, and maybe ordinarily law-abiding citizens won’t snap.” Nowhere in the article did he mention that he was in the crowd with them.

When reporters and extremism watchdogs uncovered evidence Resnick was at the Capitol two years ago, the Jewish Press defended him, claiming he was simply there as a journalist. But the new report by federal prosecutors shows he did a lot more than just stand around reporting on the riot.

Images in the charging document show Resnick in the crowd, wearing a black yarmulke, trying to force his way through the East Rotunda Doors. In some of the images, he can be seen grabbing the wrist of a police officer attempting to control the crowd with chemical spray.

"Almost immediately after entering the U.S. Capitol, RESNICK turned back to the East Rotunda Doors and pushed on the second door, attempting to open it. At least one USCP Officer can be seen attempting to keep the door closed from the outside," said the charging document. "As RESNICK and others pushed on the closed door, a different USCP Officer, Officer B., approached RESNICK and attempted to stop him from pushing on the door. While doing so, Officer B. was thrown to the ground from behind by another rioter who has since been arrested and charged."

"After RESNICK failed to push open the southern door of the East Rotunda Doors, which was closed, he reached through the open northern door and, using his arms, began grabbing and pulling other rioters into the U.S. Capitol," the document continues. It alleges that after he made it inside, he wandered around the complex for 23 minutes before leaving.

To date, more than 1,000 people have been charged in the January 6 attack — the largest such prosecution effort in the history of the United States.