Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 57
- Location
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Charges
- Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers; Civil Disorder; Theft in a Federal Enclave; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
- Case status
- Pleaded not guilty; Deceased
Case Summary
Michael Lopatic, Sr. has been accused of attacking and repeatedly punching a police officer in the head, as well as stealing the body camera of another police officer and destroying it, according to court documents. Prior to Jan. 6, 2021, Lopatic posted threatening messages on social media against election officials and expressed an intention to gather at the Capitol and “fight.” According to FBI agents, Lopatic also posted multiple photos of dead pheasants on social media. One of the captions read: “I got a double today. The dog flushed them up together. Full choke. Two shots, two kills. Both head shots. I got a rooster and a hen. I named them Joe and Kamala,” a reference to the president and vice president, according to court documents. According to a document appealing detention filed in court, Lopatic served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Case History
Lopatic pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. On 9/20/2022 the court granted abatement of prosecution. They have confirmation that the defendant died on July 3, 2022, in Pennsylvania.
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.