A Houston police officer resigned after his chief accused him of breaching the US Capitol

• Tam Pham, an 18-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, resigned on Thursday after facing discipline for attending the attempted coup at the Capitol on January 6.
• Pham apologized to the Houston Chronicle for his involvement and said he was only there to take photos.
• According to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, Pham was one of the hundreds who breached the Capitol.
• "I can't tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer and other police officers thinking they get to go storm the Capitol," Acevado said.

A Houston police officer resigned on Thursday after his police chief accused him of breaching the US Capitol during the insurrection on January 6.

Tam Pham was an 18-year veteran of the Houston Police Department.

—Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) January 14, 2021

Pham told the Houston Chronicle he was there and expressed his regrets for attending, but denied traveling to Washington, DC, with malicious intent.

"I shouldn't have done it," Pham told the paper. "I was there to take pictures."

'No excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer'

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Pham attended the violent pro-Trump insurrection on his own time.

"There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer," Acevedo said in a press conference on Wednesday. "I can't tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer and other police officers thinking they get to go storm the Capitol or members of the military or the Secret Service ... It saddens me to report that we have that one officer. And I want to announce it here because it's the facts. "

Pro-Trump protesters originally went to Washington, DC, to protest Congress certifying the election results in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.

But the rally turned into an insurrection as the crowd breached the Capitol building, leading to the death of one police officer and several protesters. Two more deaths occurred in the days following the attempted coup: a Capitol Police officer and a rioter facing felony charges. Both died of suicide.

Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney in Washington, DC, said in a press conference on Tuesday that the FBI is expected to charge "hundreds" for their roles in the attempted coup.

"The Capitol grounds, outside and inside, are essentially a crime scene," Sherwin said. He noted that there were "thousands of potential witnesses."

He later added that "the gamut of cases and criminal conduct we're looking at is really mind-blowing."

More than 110 people have been charged over their involvement in the Capitol insurrection. Sherwin said that number is expected to grow into the "hundreds".

Acevado expects that his former officer will be one of the many facing felony charges, Fox26's Damali Keith reported.

"There's a high probability this officer will be charged with federal charges," he said.

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