Senate Sergeant-at-Arms During Jan. 6 Attack Dies

michael stenger walks the halls of the u.s. capitol in 2020

Michael Stenger (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By Charlie McCarthy | Tuesday, 28 June 2022 10:27 AM EDT

The Senate sergeant-at-arms during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack died Monday.

Michael Stenger, who as sergeant-at-arms {SAA) oversaw security in the upper chamber, resigned the day after the Capitol assault.

"Former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger died this morning. He joined the SAA team in 2011 after a career with the Secret Service and was appointed SAA in 2018," Politico’s Katherine Tully-McManus tweeted Monday.

Stenger, 71, died on the same day the House Jan. 6 select announced it would hold a surprise hearing on Tuesday to present "recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony."

News of Stenger’s death — circumstances of which were unknown — created unsubstantiated speculation and conspiracy theories online, Newsweek reported.

However, noted conspiracy theorist expert Mike Rothschild said there was nothing to indicate that Stenger had been due to testify before the Jan. 6 panel on Tuesday.

"Tons of conspiracy theories about recently deceased Senate Sergeant at Arms on January 6th, Michael Stenger. There's no indication he was due to testify, and reports about him shot from a moving car seem to be mixed up with another Michael Stenger, shot in 2013," tweeted Rothschild, whose post included text of a shooting in Oakland, California, nine years ago.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tweeted, "Michael Stenger, Senate Sergeant at Arms on January 6th, was found dead today."

Greene's post included video of Stenger speaking before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Rules and Administration in February 2021. He said the Jan. 6 demonstrators were "professional agitators."

"In conclusion, whenever you prepare for a major event, you must always consider the possibility of some level of civil disobedience at these demonstrations and plan accordingly," Stenger said in a statement before the committees.

"The events of Jan. 6 went beyond disobedience. This was a violent, coordinated attack where the loss of life could have been much worse."

Stenger, House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, and Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned after the Jan. 6 attack after criticism over the lack of preparation.