A man who was filmed attacking police officers during an attempted coup on the United States Capitol last month was arrested by the FBI on Thursday, officials said.
Peter Schwartz, 47, from Owensboro, Kentucky, faces several charges, including one for assaulting an officer by force.
According to a sworn statement, Schwartz was part of a crowd that crowded with police outside the Capitol entrance, shouting at the authorities as he attacked them and sprayed them with harmful substances.
The video of the incident, which was posted on YouTube and reviewed by federal agents, apparently shows Schwartz receiving a can of Mace and spraying the police with it. A policeman appears to be hit, steps back and turns to avoid inhaling the spray.
Later in the shoot, Schwartz is seen wielding a wooden staff. In another video, a man believed to be Schwartz’s mace official again.
Schwartz posted about his participation in the insurrection on Facebook, the statement said.
“All the violence on the left was terrorism,” he reportedly posted the next day. “What happened yesterday was the start of a war. I was there and, whether people recognize it or not, we are now at war. It would be wise to be ready! “
On January 11, a friend of his informed the FBI of his identity, telling authorities that Schwartz owed him money, according to the deposition. The friend said that Schwartz told him that he went to the Capitol, saying that there were “more people [there] than voted for Biden. “
This is not the first time that Schwartz has been accused of a violent crime. In April 2020 in Owensboro, he was found guilty of making a terrorist threat and of being a criminal in possession of a weapon after “making verbal threats to kill [his girlfriend] and your child, “according to court records seen by BuzzFeed News.
Schwartz was sentenced to two years probation for the incident.
It is not clear what the previous conviction was that led to the charge of “criminal in possession”. John D. Austin, a lawyer who represented Schwartz in the April case, told BuzzFeed News that he did not remember what it was.
On January 28, a Schwartz arrest warrant was issued for violating his probation. He was arrested on Thursday in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he appeared before a judge, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. It is not clear what Schwartz was doing in the city.
The friend who tipped the FBI told agents that Schwartz had been “released from prison due to COVID-19”, but Bruce Kuegel, the lawyer for the Daviess County community, told BuzzFeed News that he did not know this and had not no indication that it was accurate. Schwartz was not arrested for the April case, but was in prison during the trial.
Schwartz “should be in a rehab” on the day of the riot, the friend also told the FBI.
Austin was unable to comment on the federal case, as he is not currently his lawyer, but said Schwartz was subjected to chemical treatment during his probation. He did not remember COVID-19 being the reason Schwartz was released from prison during the trial, but added that he could have played a role.