Man indicted for attacking officer with skateboard during U.S. Capitol insurrection

Prosecutors have indicated approximately 81 members of the Capitol Police and 58 members of the Metropolitan Police Department were assaulted during the attack.

• By Jaclyn Diaz/NPR

(Washington) — A federal grand jury in Washington indicted a Florida man for taking his skateboard to the head of a Metropolitan Police officer during the U.S. Capitol insurrection Jan. 6.

Grady Douglas Owens, 21, was initially arrested on April 1 in Florida. He faces several charges including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees; obstruction; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Owens was captured on body camera footage using a skateboard to assault an unnamed Metropolitan Police officer, referred to as “C.B.” outside of the Capitol building, according to prosecutors. The attack caused a concussion and finger injury to the police officer.

Prosecutors have indicated in court records that approximately 81 members of the Capitol Police and 58 members of the Metropolitan Police Department were assaulted during the attack on the Capitol.

Arrests, charges continue

Federal investigators continue to make arrests into the insurrection at the Capitol more than three months after the siege occurred. The attack resulted in the death of five people. Just this week, investigators released details of cases against eight additional men for their involvement in the insurrection.

Last Monday, a superseding indictment was unsealed in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia charging five men with assaulting officers for the Metropolitan Police Department.

The indictment alleges Jack Wade Whitton, 30, of Locust Grove, Georgia, along with Jeffrey Sabol of Kittredge, Colorado, and Peter Francis Stager of Conway, Arkansas, assaulted the officer, referred to as “B.M.”, with a baton, flag, pole and a crutch.

The indictment also accuses Clayton Ray Mullins of Benton, Kentucky, of assaulting the same officer, as well as a second MPD officer. Whitton and Sabol are also accused of attacking that second officer as well. All five men are facing other charges related to the unrest.

Proud Boy member charged

Prosecutors also released details Monday of the indictment of two brothers, one of whom is a self-identified member of the right-wing Proud Boys group.

Matthew Leland Klein, 24, and Jonathanpeter Allen Klein, 21, both of Oregon, are facing several charges including conspiracy, obstruction, and disorderly conduct, among others.

According to court documents, Jonathanpeter Klein is a member of the Proud Boys, a group that describes itself as a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world; aka Western Chauvinists.”

The two brothers allegedly worked together to forcibly open a secured door on the Capitol’s north side, according to court documents. Law enforcement officers could be seen on the other side of the door. Matthew Klein advanced toward the officers using a flagpole to attempt to disperse the crowd.

The Kleins were ordered to be held without bond.

Attacks on officers

Christopher Joseph Quaglin, 35, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, was arrested on Wednesday for his involvement in the Capitol attack. He faces several charges for assaulting several law enforcement officers during the siege, according to federal prosecutors.

Quaglin was seen in video repeatedly assaulting police officers attempting to guard the Capitol from the rioters. Court documents include clips from body camera footage showing Quaglin, wearing protective gear, standing along the front lines of the crowd pushing toward the Capitol.

He was caught also shouting at Metropolitan Police Department officers, “You don’t want this fight. You do not want this f****** fight. You are on the wrong f****** side,” according to investigators.

Additional surveillance footage shows Quaglin pointing at and shoving a U.S. Capitol Police officer on the Lower West Terrace “while appearing increasingly agitated,” prosecutors said.

Quaglin allegedly grabbed and pushed an officer by the neck before working with other rioters to rip fencing from other police officers’ hands. Body camera footage also shows Quaglin lunging at another officer and pushing him to the ground.

At around 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, video caught that day allegedly shows Quaglin attacking police officers with a stolen riot shield and spraying them with a chemical spray–at times hitting them directly in the face.

 
NPR’s Investigative and News Apps teams have published a database of everyone arrested so far in connection with the Capitol riot. This area of reporting is ongoing, and the database is being updated.

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