The charges include robbery affecting interstate commerce, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, theft of a firearm that had moved in interstate commerce, and possession of a stolen firearm and ammunition. The charges are allegations; the announcement did not establish Lewis’s guilt.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania David Metcalf announced the charges Thursday alongside Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Eric DeGree.

“No one attacks law enforcement without facing the consequences,” Metcalf said.

Seiber, a 10-year department veteran assigned to the 19th District, was killed in the shooting. Rodriguez was shot 12 times and suffered serious injuries. Bethel said federal partners had supported officers and their families since the shooting.

The case has renewed attention to Lewis’s acquittal in the 2019 killing of Christopher Williams, 32, in West Philadelphia. Lewis was arrested in 2020 and later acquitted at trial. District Attorney Larry Krasner has said serious misconduct by detectives and officers compromised that investigation. The acquittal is separate from the new federal charges.

Bethel criticized Krasner for discussing the earlier case while Seiber’s colleagues and family were grieving. Krasner, who did not attend the federal announcement, said his office would continue its prosecution of the current case and called for coordination among city leaders and law enforcement.

Seiber’s funeral drew hundreds of mourners. Bethel presented the officer’s family with the Philadelphia Medal of Honor and Purple Heart. Seiber was a husband and father of two young children.