Texas cop charged in Capitol riot initially told FBI he was in DC on business, feds say
A Texas police officer now charged for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot told the FBI he was in Washington, D.C., on a business trip and didn’t go inside the building, authorities say.
Then agents took a look at his phone.
Houston police officer Tam Dinh Pham, who resigned on Jan. 14, was charged Tuesday with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds in the attack as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory on Jan. 6.
At a news conference last week, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he received information that a patrol officer attended President Donald Trump’s rally and participated in storming the Capitol, a tip that he shared with the FBI.
In an interview with the FBI at his home in Richmond, southwest of Houston, Pham initially said he was on Washington, D.C. from Jan. 5-7 for “business reasons,” according to court documents. Pham agreed to let agents look through photos on his phone and they noticed no pictures from the dates of his trip, the documents say.
However, when an agent looked through his deleted photos, she discovered video and pictures of Pham inside the Capitol, the documents say.
The FBI retrieved metadata for the photos and determined they were created shortly before 3 p.m. Jan. 6, as rioters had breached Capitol and Congress was evacuated.
Advised that it was illegal to lie to the FBI, Pham changed his story and told agents he originally traveled to Washington, D.C., for his wife’s cooking business, a trip that coincidentally coincided with Trump’s rally, according to court documents.
Pham stated that he learned about the rally from Facebook and the only reason he went to the rally was to “see history,” the documents say.
Pham said after the rally he followed people to the Capitol and climbed over fences already knocked over and around barricades into the building, according to court documents.
Pham told agents he was in the Capitol rotunda, viewed historical art on the walls and took photographs and videos for about 10 to 15 minutes before leaving, the documents say.
On Saturday, The Washington Post reported at least 13 off-duty law enforcement officials may have participated in the riot, a number that may grow as investigations continue.
A Georgia police officer who claimed to be among the first over the Capitol fence was turned in by his own police department, McClatchy News reported.
Five people died after the attack, including U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick.
Trump was impeached for “incitement of insurrection” with some members of his own party joining with Democrats in the House to charge him.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Texas cop charged in Capitol riot initially told FBI he was in DC on business, feds say."