Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they invade the Inauguration platform of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. - Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification.
Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images
Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they invade the Inauguration platform of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. - Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification.
Two Monroe County brothers are facing charges in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Andrew Valentin and his brother, Matthew — both from Stroudsburg — are accused of spraying a chemical irritant at police officers, pushing a barricade into a line of law enforcement, wrestling with an officer over a baton, and throwing a folding chair at a line of police.
They are charged with felonies for civil disorder and assaulting officers, as well as several misdemeanors. They are both in custody as of Tuesday, according to federal court documents.
As part of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, a Pennsylvania State Trooper used a series of videos, many uploaded by Jan. 6 rioters themselves, and others from police body-worn cameras, to follow the brothers’ approach to and actions at the Capitol. On Tuesday, a federal judge unsealed the 27-page criminal complaint against Andrew and Matthew.
In one video, Matthew says he is “Matthew from MAGAsylvania” and then Andrew, wearing a white Make America Great Again baseball cap, states he is Matthew’s brother.
Meet Matthew #YellowTipSprayer and his brother #YellowTipsTail from Pennsylvania. Thanks Dianna. pic.twitter.com/6WmC76bwEI
— Common D’Mominator (@CMominator) September 21, 2021
Before approaching the Capitol, the brothers gathered with other supporters of former President Donald Trump near the Washington Monument. Then, the Valentins, who stayed together throughout the day, walked to the Capitol’s West Plaza and climbed a media tower next to the inaugural stage prepared for President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony scheduled later that month.
Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice
A video posted online shows Matthew Valentin (circled in yellow) and Andrew Valentin (circled in red) climbing on the media tower on Capitol grounds.
Eight minutes after the House, Senate and Vice-President Mike Pence were instructed to evacuate the chambers at 2:20 p.m., the Valentins were part of a crowd that rushed a police line in the West Plaza. Body camera footage shows Matthew pushing a bike-rack barricade into police officers dressed in riot gear, with Andrew close behind.
Less than five minutes later, according to the complaint, Matthew is shown in another video holding a baton and a spray canister. Multiple body cameras then show Matthew “spraying what appears to be a chemical irritant at police officers” before rinsing his own eyes out with water. Law enforcement retreated from West Plaza.
Roughly an hour later, at 3:30 p.m. and on the Upper West Plaza, Matthew approached another police line and grabbed an officer’s baton. Photos show Matthew and the officer both holding the baton, seemingly wrestling over it.
At 5:12 p.m., the last images included in the criminal complaint against the brothers show Andrew throwing what appears to be a metal folding chair at yet another police line, striking one officer’s shield.
The Valentins are among more than 1,313 individuals from nearly all 50 states charged by the federal government with crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with felonies for assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the DOJ said in a news release announcing the brothers’ arrests.
Neither brother has an attorney listed in court documents as of Thursday. Neither has submitted a plea in which they would declare themselves guilty or not guilty. That process can take months. In the meantime, the brothers will have hearings deciding the conditions under which they will be released, if at all, while awaiting trial.
The brothers did not appear to ever enter the Capitol and are not charged with “obstruction of a criminal proceeding,” which is another felony related to the attempt to stop the certification of President Biden’s electoral victory. The U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the legality of the obstruction charge will not affect the majority of January 6 defendants, such as the Valentins.
The FBI has now arrested and charged 94 Pennsylvanians in connection to Jan. 6, according to the NPR database tracking the criminal investigations. In at least 71 of those cases, defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. None has been acquitted, and three cases have been dismissed because the defendants died prior to trial or plea.
The number of Pennsylvanians arrested for their involvement is third most in the country, behind only Florida and Texas. The attack was part of an effort to try to keep former president Donald Trump in power — even though he lost the 2020 election.
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