Two Missouri men accused of assaulting officers during riot at U.S. Capitol charged

ST. LOUIS — Two Missouri men accused of assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot, together with pushing motorcycle racks that had been getting used as barricades right into a police line, had been charged.

Jared Luther Owens, 41, of Farmington, and Jason William Wallis, 49, of St. Clair, had been charged Monday with obstruction of regulation enforcement during a civil dysfunction and attack on regulation enforcement with a perilous or bad weapon, each felonies. They additionally face a number of misdemeanor counts. The fees had been filed in Washington, D.C.

Owens used to be arrested Friday, and Wallis used to be arrested Saturday. Owens’ lawyer, Paul Vysotsky, declined remark. Wallis asked an lawyer throughout the Federal Public Defender’s place of business in St. Louis, however does no longer but have one, a person answering telephones at the place of business stated Tuesday.

Court data say the 2 men had been observed on video during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot pursuing and screaming at Capitol police officers, at one level yelling, “Coming up the stairs, with you or not.”

Officers moved motorcycle racks to shape a barricade as rioters had been last in on a piece of the northeast nook of the Capitol. Court paperwork say Wallis grabbed onto the barricade and, with the assist of Owens, shoved it into the road of officers. As a consequence, one officer sustained a fracture to her proper hand and wrist, paperwork mentioned.

Later, at the east entrance of the Capitol, Owens led a crowd of rioters in chanting, “Whose House? Our House!” the costs allege. The courtroom paperwork say that after they were given inside of, Owens broke via a police line and driven a Capitol officer towards a wall.

Prosecutors allege that Owens used to be armed with a knife when he joined the mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters who stormed the Capitol and disrupted the joint consultation of Congress for certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory over the Republican incumbent. Trump had previous that day addressed the gang of his supporters at a rally close to the White House, encouraging them to “fight like hell.”

Federal prosecutors say that greater than 1,100 other folks had been charged for crimes associated with the attack at the Capitol, together with greater than 400 other folks charged with assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement.