Texas Man Arrested on Charges For Assault on Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach (original) (raw)

WASHINGTON — A Texas man was arrested today for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Jason Blythe, 26, of Fort Worth, Texas, was named in a superseding indictment returned in the District of Columbia. The indictment, unsealed today, also includes four defendants previously charged in the case: James Tate Grant, 29, of Hot Springs, North Carolina; Paul Russell Johnson, 36, of Lenexa, Virginia; Stephen Chase Randolph, 32, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and Ryan Samsel, 38, of Levittown, Pennsylvania. All four of those defendants previously pleaded not guilty.

All five defendants are charged in the superseding indictment with civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, carrying out an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds, and related offenses. Blythe was arrested by the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force in Fort Worth, Texas. He was scheduled to make his initial appearance today in the Northern District of Texas.

As alleged in the indictment, Blythe participated in attacks in which a metal crowd control barrier was used against two officers from the U.S. Capitol Police, including one who sustained bodily injury. According to the government’s evidence, the assault took place at the Peace Circle, where law enforcement was attempting to secure the restricted perimeter of the Capitol grounds.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and its Fort Worth Resident Agency, along with the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Blythe as #52 in its seeking information photos. Assistance was provided by the Fort Worth Resident Agency’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes personnel from federal and local law enforcement agencies.

In the one year since Jan. 6, more than 725 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 225 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.