Athens man charged with assaulting officer during US Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021

Wayne Ford, Athens Banner-Herald
·2 min read

An Athens man was scheduled to make his first appearance before a U.S. District Court judge Friday in Atlanta on charges he participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

The FBI identified the man as 20-year-old Jake Maxwell.

The first appearance hearing is to notify the defendant of charges and consider bond. Information on whether bond was allowed was unavailable Friday morning. He was arrested Thursday in Flowery Branch, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Maxwell is charged in the District of Columbia with assaulting a federal officer, resisting officers, civil disorder and engaging in violence on restricted grounds.

Nearly 725 people have been arrested since that day when a mob stormed the Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the election of Joe Biden as president, according to the Justice Department.

The FBI identified this man at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington as Jake Maxwell of Athens.
The FBI identified this man at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington as Jake Maxwell of Athens.

In the Maxwell case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office released an FBI complaint showing that on April 1 of last year an agent called and spoke to Maxwell, one of his family members and “a third person,” all of whom had traveled to Washington to attend a rally for President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. All three verified they made the trip.

Then last October, the FBI received information from a confidential source that Maxwell was involved in a physical confrontation with a law enforcement officer during the riot, according to the document.

The FBI agent reported he examined body-camera footage of two Metropolitan Police Department officers and identified Maxwell as a man banging his hands and pushing on the riot shield of an officer as the officer tried to push him away.

The FBI said this photo shows Jake Maxwell wearing the same jacket he was wearing during the riot at the U.S. Capitol last year.
The FBI said this photo shows Jake Maxwell wearing the same jacket he was wearing during the riot at the U.S. Capitol last year.

The video showed Maxwell in a struggle with the officer, during which time he hooks his arm around the officer’s baton, but the officer pulls it away, according to the document.

On Dec. 9, Maxwell met with FBI agents in the Atlanta office and agreed the man seen in the footage was him. However, he said “he did not remember doing those things,” according to the FBI.

“He said he was under the effects of being sprayed with an irritant and that he had started freakin’ out,” according to the document.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Capitol riot arrest: Athens GA man charged with assaulting officer