A member of the Proud Boys was arrested after prosecutors said he used pepper spray against a line of police officers during the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol.
In court documents filed on Wednesday, Justice Department prosecutors said the photos taken on January 6 show Christopher Worrell at Capitol dressed in a tactical vest, with an ear protector on his ear and armed with pepper spray. Court documents show photos of Worrell spreading pepper spray near the staircase leading to the Capitol building.
In the documents, prosecutors said that, based on the analysis of several photos and videos of the scene, they believe that “the likely intended target of the Worrell pepper spray attack was the line of police officers present in these photos”.
The photos, however, do not directly show Worrell spraying the police.
According to the documents, Worrell was charged with five federal crimes: knowingly entering a restricted building or land without legal authority; knowingly and with the intention of preventing or interrupting the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions; knowingly engaging in an act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or land; utter loud, threatening or abusive language, or engage in disorderly or disturbing conduct, anywhere on the Land or in any of the Capitol Buildings with the intention of preventing, interrupting or disrupting the orderly conduct of a session of Congress; and get involved in an act of physical violence on the ground or in any of the Capitol buildings.
According to CNN, Worrell appeared in federal court on Friday and was released by a federal judge in the Central District of Florida. The Justice Department quickly appealed the decision and, as a result, the chief judge of the federal court in Washington, DC, temporarily suspended his release pending further review, CNN reported.
Worrell’s lawyer, Landon Miller, told CNN that he plans to plead not guilty and denied that his client used pepper spray against the police.
The lawyer added that Worrell only came to Washington and marched to the Capitol because he was motivated by ex- President Trump
Donald TrumpPompeo: Re-entering the deal with Iran would make the Middle East ‘less secure’. DNC prepares to push in mid-term Biden struggles to unravel Trump’s web of immigration rules MOREthe company’s “invitation” to do so.
“Mr. Worrell was overcharged without supporting evidence,” Miller said in an email to CNN on Sunday. “Mr. Worrell says strongly that at no time did he spray pepper on any police officer or intend to spray any police officer. He also claims that he went to Washington, DC and then to the Capitol under the direction of former President Trump.”
CNN said that, according to a review of court documents, nearly 20 people affiliated with the Proud Boys were charged in the Capitol riot.