Several members of a production crew with for “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” were detained Thursday night in a congressional office building near the U.S. Capitol, CBS said Friday. The group was filming a comedy segment when they were taken into custody, the company said.
U.S. Capitol Police told CBS News that officers responded to a “call for a disturbance” at 8:30 p.m. at the Longworth House Office Building, where they detained seven people who were “unescorted and without Congressional ID” in a sixth-floor hallway.
After determining the group were not Congressional employees — and had been asked to leave the building earlier in the day — they were charged with unlawful entry. Police said a criminal investigation is ongoing and could lead to more charges.
Capitol Police did not release any names and would not say if the suspects were with “The Late Show,” which, like CBS News, is a part of Paramount Global. But CBS said Friday that the suspects were part of a production team which was recording a “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” comedy segment on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday.
The production team had conducted interviews earlier in the day that “were authorized and pre-arranged through congressional aides of the members interviewed,” CBS said in a statement. After leaving members’ offices, the team stayed to film “stand-ups and other comedy elements” before they were detained, the company said.
Photos posted Thursday showed comedian Robert Smigel, who voices the character of Triumph, in the halls outside the Jan. 6 House select committee hearings.
The incident came several hours after the committee had wrapped up its third day of public hearings. The hearings are taking place in the Cannon House Office Building, another congressional building located directly across the street from the Longworth building.
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