A former member of the U.S. Air Force and combat veteran, Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr., was among the rioters who stormed the Capitol building earlier this week. In an interview with the New Yorker, Brock confirmed he was the man photographed near House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and in the Senate chamber wearing tactical gear and holding zip tie restraints. Brock claimed he merely picked the zip ties up off the floor. “I know it looks menacing,” he said. “That was not my intent.”

Brock denied entering the Speaker’s office, but video from ITV appeared to show him exiting the area. He said he wore tactical gear because he was worried about physical attacks from antifa or Black Lives Matter protesters. Brock’s family and friends said he is an ardent Trump supporter and they believe he holds white supremacist views that may have led him to travel to the Capitol.