Defendant Accused of Assaulting Officers With Chemical Irritant
WASHINGTON — A South Carolina man has been arrested on felony fees, together with assaulting a regulation enforcement officer, for his actions throughout the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to determine and depend the electoral votes associated to the presidential election.
Thomas Andrew Casselman, 29, of Walhalla, South Carolina, is charged in a legal criticism filed within the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil dysfunction, getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds with a harmful weapon, illegal possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds or buildings, all felonies, act of bodily violence within the Capitol grounds or buildings, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol constructing. He was arrested this morning in Walhalla and made his preliminary look within the District of South Carolina earlier than Justice of the Peace Choose Kevin McDonald.
In response to courtroom paperwork, Casselman is seen in pictures from Jan. 6, 2021, printed broadly, sporting a darkish gray cap with design on the entrance, black face masks, American flag gaiter or scarf across the neck, black jacket, and backpack whereas within the crowd on the west facet of the Capitol Constructing. Physique Worn Digital camera (BWC) footage from D.C. Metropolitan Cops in addition to open-source video footage present Casselman spraying regulation enforcement officers with an orange coloured spray, presumed to be a chemical irritant, particularly, bear spray. A sufferer of the usage of this chemical irritant additionally described the spray as bear spray.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Columbia and the Division of Justice Nationwide Safety Division’s Counterterrorism Part. Helpful help was supplied by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of South Carolina.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Columbia, South Carolina Subject Workplace and the FBI’s Washington Subject Workplace, which recognized Casselman as #363 on its looking for data photographs. Helpful help was supplied by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Division.
Within the 26 months since Jan. 6, 2021, greater than 1,000 people have been arrested in practically all 50 states for crimes associated to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, together with over 320 people charged with assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement. The investigation stays ongoing.
Anybody with ideas can name 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or go to ideas.fbi.gov.
A criticism is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed harmless till confirmed responsible past an affordable doubt in a courtroom of regulation.