Pinetops, N.C. (WITN) – Neighbors were surprised to hear the news of 41-year-old John Carl, a Pinetops police officer facing felony and misdemeanor charges related to his alleged conduct during the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Neighbor Kyle Cecchi says January 6th was a shocking event for most Americans and called it embarrassing.
“It’s something to be ashamed of. Everything that happened, not trying to incorporate everyone that were there into these terrible people, but some people did some terrible things. It’s just kind of odd, you never really know who could’ve played a part of it. It could be your own neighbor,” said Cecchi.
Based on the charges brought by the FBI, Carl has been suspended by the Pinetops Police Department pending an investigation, according to Cauley-Pridgen Law firm.
Another neighbor feels Carl is being treated unfairly.
“I think he should get his job back, and I think right now he should be getting his job back with pay… until it’s investigated,” says neighbor Donnie Greenwaldt.
Greenwaldt says he used to work with Carl and feels that he’s a man with good character.
“He’s a fantastic police officer. A hard-working police officer, a good family man, He’s a very community-minded person. He’s in two fire departments, I mean you won’t meet a finer fella,” says Greenwaldt.
According to court documents, Carl traveled to Washington DC on January 6 in 2021 to attend the former’s president rally. It also states that Carl made his way to the West front of the US Capitol building where he was reported within the front of the crowd of rioters and allegedly entered the Capitol building.
Carl was not a Pinetops police officer at the time of the January 6 Capitol breach.
The case involving Carl is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s counterterrorism section.
The Case is being investigated by the FBI’s Charlotte and Washington field offices.
Since January 6, 2021, more than 1488 individuals have been charged across the country for crimes related to the breach of the US Capitol.