Argonne National Laboratory employee charged with assaulting officers during Jan. 6 Capitol riot
CHICAGO - A worker at the Argonne National Laboratory has been charged with assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Robin Reierson, from Schiller Park, was captured on video pushing officers and attempting to grab an officer’s baton near the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
Reierson was also seen on video pushing a metal barrier that officers were holding, the complaint states. Footage allegedly shows him in a crowd chanting "Stop the Steal!"
Someone sent a tip to the FBI about a week later that an employee of Argonne National Laboratory was possibly involved in the riot.
The FBI matched images from videos to Reierson’s Illinois driver’s license.
Agents began surveillance of Reierson’s home and observed him leaving the house in a cargo van with the same Illinois license plates that tollway records indicate was driven to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, and back to Illinois on Jan. 7, 2021,
Agents also learned Reierson took vacation days on Jan. 5 through Jan. 8, the complaint states.
Reierson was charged with assaulting an officer, obstruction of law enforcement, entering a restricted building and engaging in disorderly conduct with the intent of impeding Congress.
He is employed at Argonne as a lead welder and has worked there for over 40 years, according to a statement from a laboratory spokesperson.