Derby Alderman Details His Experience During The Attack On The U.S. Capitol

FROM US DOJ VIDEO

Derby's Gino DiGiovanni, experiencing the effects of tear gas or pepper spray, can be seen in the bottom center of this photo wearing his company's jacket during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

DERBY – Alderman Gino DiGiovanni, Jr. said Tuesday he did not enter the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 with ill intent, but will answer to any criminal charges if filed.

“If something comes of it, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. And if there is a penalty, I will definitely pay my debt to society,” DiGiovanni said. ​“I’m just not that type of person that is going to scapegoat, blame someone else, or what have you.”

DiGiovanni made his comments during a nearly one-hour video interview with The Valley Indy Tuesday night, during which DiGiovanni talked about why he attended the Jan. 6 ​“stop the steal” rally in Washington, D.C., and why he was one of an estimated 2,000 people who breached the U.S. Capitol, interrupting a joint session of the U.S. Congress whose members were affirming President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Click play on the video below to watch the full interview.

In addition to being an elected official on Derby’s legislative body, DiGiovanni is the chairman of the Republican Town Committee and is an appointed member of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission. He runs a local construction company.

The fact DiGiovanni breached the Capitol building was first reported Friday, Oct. 28 by NBC 30 investigative reporter Len Besthoff. The NBC 30 report was picked up by national news outlets. 

DiGiovanni was not an Alderman when he travelled to Washington, D.C. He pointed out he was wearing a jacket with his last name/company name on it, along with a phone number, which he said shows he was not there with bad intent. He said he went alone.

Unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol is a federal crime. DiGiovanni has not been charged with anything. It is not known whether any agencies are looking at him.

DiGiovanni said no law enforcement agencies have contacted him. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. declined comment on Monday.

In a statement issued Oct. 6, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is continuing. 

About 880 people have been arrested. About 809 defendants have been charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds. Click here to read the statement.


DEATH THREATS

DiGiovanni, 41, is respected in Derby, Connecticut’s smallest city. He has a long history of volunteering.

He was late for a recent meeting of a city EMS review committee because he stopped to help a stranded motorist. This year he was a key player in helping a local family erect a memorial to their late son in Witek Park. He’s an Eagle Scout. He and his company donated time and resources to help construct and maintain the Sept. 11 memorial on the Derby Green. His family in 2008 teamed with Derby Storm Ambulance to ship an ambulance and medical supplies to Guatemala.

DiGiovanni won election in a ward with lots of registered Democrats. He ran a positive campaign, and won his seat with about 430 votes, along with two Democrats from the ward.

DiGiovanni has also not been overly partisan since being elected. He has complained that the aldermen/alderwomen take too long to get anything done. He’s not a fan of social media, describing it as too negative.

Since the news surfaced that DiGiovanni entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, he said, his life has been turned upside down.

He said he has been receiving constant death threats, including messages sent to his cell phone. 

He said people have threatened to ​“swat” him, which is when a person makes a false claim to police that triggers a private residence to be raided. 

It’s a form of online harassment that has gotten people killed.

DiGiovanni said he’s been called a Nazi and a pedophile – all since Friday.

He said that members of the Derby Police Department are aware of what’s happening and that he is grateful for their help.

“Everybody is entitled to their opinions and I’ll respect that. For the people that know me, for the people here that I represent … for the last 25 years I’ve done a lot to help my community, and my friends, and my family, and people that are around me,” he said. ​“I don’t want anyone to think I went down there for political purposes, or with nefarious thoughts or intention – I did not,” he said.

VIOLENT VIDEO

DiGiovanni said he went to D.C. alone.

He told NBC 30 that he did not see any violence at the Capitol. 

However, during Tuesday’s video interview with The Valley Indy, DiGiovanni reacted to a video the government submitted as evidence in a criminal case filed against Nicholas DeCarlo.

The 2‑minute, 48-second video shows a chaotic, confusing and violent scene on the Capitol steps, with tear gas and pepper spray flowing. The mob sprays law enforcement with a substance, throws items at a line of officers, and chants ​“USA.” A voice can be heard saying, ​“They cannot stop us all.” A few in the mob shout ​“Cowards!” Many are carrying Trump flags and U.S. flags.

DiGiovanni can be glimpsed – briefly – at the bottom left of the video 2 minutes and 24 seconds in. His face is also visible in the crowd at the ‑2 minute, 26-second mark. It appears that he’s reacting to whatever irritant is floating in the air.

He bends to the ground and only the large backpack he’s wearing is visible at the 2‑minute, 36-point of the video. He pops up again at the 2‑minute, 41 second mark looking like his eyes are irritated.

The video shows the U.S. Capitol under attack. DiGiovanni said he was in the crowd but was not part of the attack.

DiGiovanni said at that point he was scared. He said he could move only in the direction of the crowd – which was up toward the U.S. Capitol building.

“It’s like you’re jammed in the middle of thousands and thousands of people,” he said. 

The video is embedded below. Please be warned there is graphic imagery and offensive language.

He said he saw people entering the Capitol through a door (identified by officials as the Upper West Terrace entrance). DiGiovanni said he saw police officers just inside the doorway. He said it looked like they were allowing people inside. 

He said he looked to him like the officers were providing refuge — a way out. The police officers did not talk to him as he passed.

Various news outlets, from The Washington Post to BuzzFeed News, have pointed to Senate reports and law enforcement affidavits showing Capitol police were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of the crowd.

BuzzFeed observed that the officers DiGiovanni walked past ​“aren’t wearing helmets or other special protective equipment, and there doesn’t appear to be a coordinated plan for how to secure the doors. There’s no officer stationed at the exterior doors at first; the officers are seen responding to rioters who are already inside the building and encouraging them to leave, and the departing rioters make the initial breach possible when they open the doors to go out.”

Video footage in the minutes after DiGiovanni entered the door shows police retreating as the mob enters, with backup officers arriving just outside the door.

The 38-second video below shows DiGiovanni walk into the building. The second half of the video shows DiGiovanni walking past officers.

The Washington Post published a story in March 2021 detailing the relentless beating of police officers that happened on the West Terrace.

DiGiovanni said as he entered the building he was not aware of the full-scale attack happening.

“It’s like you have tunnel vision, you know what I mean? You don’t know what’s going on to your right, to your left,” he said.

DiGiovanni said he was inside the Capitol for 10 to 15 minutes, following the crowd up a flight of stairs and then out an exit.

“I didn’t have a game plan. I was never there [before]. I was just following the rest of the people,’ he said.

He said he didn’t realize the full extent of the insurrection until he regained cell service in northern Maryland and his wife told him what was happening.

His wife, who was being treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer at the time, had caught a glimpse of DiGiovanni on Newsmax, a website that later apologized and retracted for publishing false stories about voting machines.

DiGiovanni said he acknowledges the violence of Jan. 6 — but repeatedly said he did not know what was happening until he was on his way back to Derby.

THE RALLY

DiGiovanni’s journey, which ended by breaching the U.S. Capitol, started hours before at the ​“Save America”gathering, which is commonly referred to as the ​“Stop The Steal” rally from the oft-repeated chant.

President Trump spoke at the rally, claiming widespread voter fraud, none of which has ever been proven. The event became a cornerstone of the federal Jan. 6 committee, which is investigating the insurrection. 

DiGiovanni said he attended the rally because it was winter, which meant work was slow. He said he wanted to see President Trump speak because it would be the last chance to see him speak as U.S. president.

DiGiovanni wasn’t an elected official that day.

“I just went down as a Derby resident at the time,” he said.

In his interview with The Valley Indy, DiGiovanni repeated his assertion that there were unspecified ​“inconsistencies” in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He told The Valley Indy that he sees no reason to overturn the election results and that he recognizes Joe Biden as U.S. President.

Trump maintains the 2020 election was fraudulent. He and his associates have not prevailed in court in some 50 cases related to those claims.

DiGiovanni said he decided to join the march from the rally to the Capitol because he simply decided to follow the crowd. He said he was not going to the Capitol to attack Congress.

Please watch the interview embedded at the top of this page to hear more from DiGiovanni.

REACTION

The Valley Indy reached out to Mayor Rich Dziekan for comment on Monday. The mayor issued a statement Tuesday supporting DiGiovanni.

“It’s been nearly two years, hundreds of arrests have been made, and no doubt every inch of video has been examined. Yet, in that time, Gino is not among those arrested. In fact Gino has never even been questioned. So why is this news now? Politics pure and simple,” Dziekan said.

“If Gino were not an elected Republican official, it would have never seen the light of day. By the way, Gino was a private citizen at the time, which had conveniently been omitted from most stories. He was not elected as an Alderman until 11 months later in November of 2021 and as the chairman locally even after that.”

Dziekan said he was not aware DiGiovanni had entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 when Derby Republicans nominated him for office.

The Valley Indy reached out to two leaders in the Derby Democratic Party on Monday. Both said they wanted more information from DiGiovanni about what happened.

Owney Malerba III, the chairman of the Derby Democratic Town Committee, called Jan. 6 a ​“sad day for democracy.”

“In over 60 legal cases challenging the results of the 2020 election, all were thrown out because they lacked any merit,” Malerba said.

The NBC 30 report from Friday caused citizens on The Valley Indy’s Facebook page to ask whether a local elected official can be sanctioned in some way. 

DiGiovanni’s alleged appearance inside the U.S. Capitol happened in January, prior to his election as an alderman.

Section 19 of the Derby Charter gives the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen the ability to sanction members for ​“disorderly conduct” and the ability to suspend or expel a member ​“for cause.” For expulsions or suspensions, notice would have to be provided and the elected official would have the opportunity to be heard.

The next paragraph in the Charter refers specifically to bribes. It’s not clear whether that’s the only offense that triggers sanctions. The Valley Indy reached out to corporation counsel Vincent Marino on Monday for clarification. He did not return the email.

Democrats hold a majority on the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen. The relationship between the Democrats and the administration has been poor since January 2022.

The Valley Indy asked Alderwoman Sarah Widomski, a Democrat who serves as president of Derby’s legislative body, whether some type of sanction will be pursued. 

She did not answer the question, but said her board is waiting for answers.

“This is a very serious matter that reaches beyond Derby,” Widomski said in an email. ​“Jan.y 6, 2021 was an attack against democracy in our country and it angers and saddens me that our Capitol was subjected to such treachery. There is no question about the validity of the results of the 2020 election. The BOA/A awaits a full explanation of this situation from the administration.”

VERIFIED INFORMATION

After posting NBC 30’s story on Friday, several readers posted inaccurate statistical information about Jan. 6 on The Valley Indy’s Facebook page.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. more than 880 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia in connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The info below is directly from the U.S. Attorney’s website.

Of the criminal charges:

* Approximately 272 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including approximately 95 individuals who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.

* Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted Jan. 6 at the Capitol, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.

* Approximately 11 individuals have been arrested on a series of charges that relate to assaulting a member of the media, or destroying their equipment, on Jan. 6.

* Approximately 809 defendants have been charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds. Of those, 89 defendants have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.

* Approximately 56 defendants have been charged with destruction of government property, and approximately 37 defendants have been charged with theft of government property.

* More than 294 defendants have been charged with corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so.

* Approximately 50 defendants have been charged with conspiracy, either: (a) conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding, (b) conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement during a civil disorder, (c) conspiracy to injure an officer, or (d) some combination of the three.

Pleas:

  • Approximately 412 individuals have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing.

  • Approximately 99 have pleaded guilty to felonies. Another 313 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.

  • A total of 39 of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded to federal charges of assaulting law enforcement officers. Approximately 16 additional defendants have pleaded guilty to feloniously obstructing, impeding, or interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. Of these 55 defendants, 25 have now been sentenced to prison terms of up to 86 months.

  • Four of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded guilty to the federal charge of seditious conspiracy.

Trials:

  • 21 individuals have been found guilty at contested trials, including one who was found guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Another 5 individuals have been convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts. Nine of these 26 defendants were found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, a felony, including one who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Sentencings:

  • Approximately 280 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on Jan. 6. Approximately 152 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration. Approximately 75 defendants have been sentenced to a period of home detention, including approximately 11 who also were sentenced to a period of incarceration.

  • Public Assistance:

  • Citizens from around the country have provided invaluable assistance in identifying individuals in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. The FBI continues to seek the public’s help in identifying more than 360 individuals believed to have committed violent acts on the Capitol grounds, including over 264 who assaulted police officers.

  • Additionally, the FBI currently has 15 videos of suspects wanted for violent assaults on federal officers and one video of two suspects wanted for assaults on members of the media on January 6th and is seeking the public’s help to identify them. For images and video of the attackers, please visit https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence. Anyone with tips can call 1 – 800-CALL-FBI (800 – 225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. is the source of the stats, which were current as of Oct. 6, 2022.


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