ATHENS, Ga. — An Athens man was arrested on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice, and charged with assault for his alleged role in the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.
A press release by the DOJ alleges that 20-year-old Jake Maxwell "engaged in physical confrontations with law enforcement officers" at the Capitol on Jan. 6, "banged his hands and pushed on the riot shield" of a Capitol police officer and "got into a physical struggle" with the officer.
Maxwell is at least the 23rd individual with ties to Georgia who has been arrested in connection to the insurrectionist sacking of the Capitol last year.
According to the DOJ, the struggle between Maxwell and the officer primarily involved an attempt to wrestle away the officer's baton.
"During that struggle, Maxwell first hooked his arm around the officer’s baton. The officer then got his baton away from Maxwell and used it to keep Maxwell away from the line of law enforcement trying to protect the Capitol building from the crowd of rioters," the DOJ release said. "Maxwell, however, grabbed the officer’s baton with his left hand and pulled on it during the struggle."
According to Maxwell's criminal complaint on the DOJ website, his charges include:
- Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers
- Civil disorder
- Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds
- Act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings
A charging document on the DOJ site includes pictures of Maxwell allegedly hooking the officer's baton.
The charging document added that Maxwell sat for an interview with investigators in December, and that he said he "did not remember doing those things" but identified himself in bodycam videos.
"He said he was under the effects of being sprayed with an irritant, and that he had 'started freakin' out,'" the document states.
