FBI: New Hyde Park man told fellow Capitol rioters, 'let's go'

A New Hyde Park man was arrested Tuesday on charges that he pulled open a door at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and shouted "let’s go" to a mob before storming the building.

Eric Gerwatowski, 31, was released without bond Tuesday at his initial appearance in federal court in Central Islip. U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Arlene R. Lindsay told Gerwatwoski he is prohibited from possessing any firearms or explosives, or from traveling outside of the continental United States without the court’s permission. He is also restricted from traveling to Washington, where his case will be tried, unless required as part of his prosecution.

Gerwatowski faces federal charges of civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, according to a criminal complaint.

He left court Tuesday afternoon with his Garden City-based attorney, Bruce Barket. Both men declined to comment.

More than 725 people have been arrested by federal authorities for allegedly breaching the Capitol, an attack that disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to count the electoral votes from the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden. The rioters falsely believed the election was stolen and that defeated President Donald Trump was the true victor.

Several people there that day died, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was attacked by rioters.

The FBI said it identified Gerwatowski from several photographs and a YouTube video as well as tipsters who personally knew him. The FBI also said Gerwatowski’s cellphone was at the Capitol on the day of the riot.

In the video, Capitol Police officers were attempting to close the Upper House doors to prevent more rioters from breaching the building, when a man at the front of a crowd of rioters, identified by the FBI as Gerwatowski, "pulled open one of the doors." Gerwatowski then "turned to the crowd and yelled ‘let’s go!’ and directed more rioters inside the Capitol," the FBI complaint said.

A Capitol police officer standing nearby told the FBI in an interview that he "made a tactical decision not to engage Gerwatowski" because he had just come from the Gallery area of the Capitol where rioter Ashli Babbitt had been fatally shot by an officer.

"The officer told the FBI that he was exhausted, outnumbered, and had already been attacked and sprayed with several chemicals by rioters earlier in the day," the complaint said.

The FBI later released a photograph of a man it believed was Gerwatowski inside the Capitol during the insurrection, according to the complaint filed Feb. 2. The photo was among a series of images released as part of the FBI's "Be on the Lookout" campaign seeking help from the public identifying rioters, the complaint said.

Twitter users dubbed Gerwatowski "#lordlonghair" for his shoulder-length dirty blond locks, the FBI said. Gerwatowski told an interviewer that day he had come to Washington because "the commies are trying to steal the country," the FBI said in the complaint. He added that he believed "100%" that the election was stolen, the complaint said.

Gerwatowski is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. A virtual hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 15.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.