Married couple in the Florida Keys accused of involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
A federal judge issued arrest warrants this month for two people living in the Florida Keys who the FBI said participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Bryan Roger Bishop, 51, is accused of spraying a chemical irritant in the face of two Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department officers who were trying to contain the riot, according to court documents released Monday.
He faces several charges, including assaulting police officers with a dangerous or deadly weapon, trespassing and engaging in violence in the Capitol.
Tonya Bishop, 47, is accused of trespassing in the Capitol and faces charges of entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in the Capitol and parading “and demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.”
An FBI spokesman said two people were arrested in the Keys Monday night in connection with the Jan. 6 attacks. He directed specific questions, including the names of the people arrested, to the agency’s Washington field office, which did not immediately respond to questions about the case.
The original filing on the federal government’s court document database — which was removed after the Miami Herald broke the story about the case Monday morning — stated each defendant has a date scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Key West on Tuesday to answer the charges.
Adam Linhardt, spokesman for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, also confirmed in a statement that the FBI arrested two people who live on a boat in Marathon.
“The liveaboard couple came ashore in a dinghy and federal agents took them into custody without incident,” Linhardt said.
According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, Tonya Bishop called her husband’s son on Jan. 4, 2021, while he was in prison, and told him “On the 6th, Trump has called The Patriots together, a bunch of us are headed over there.” The call was recorded, the complaint states.
Both are accused of taking part in the riots that happened during the joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 U.S. election for President Joe Biden. So far, more than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, and former President Donald Trump was indicted this month for what federal prosecutors say was his role in the events that led to the attack on the Capitol.
A call by the Miami Herald/FLKeysnews.com to the cellphone listed on the complaint for Tonya Bishop went directly to a recorded message that she was not receiving calls at this time. There was no phone number listed in available court documents for Bryan Bishop.
Information about legal representation was not available for either of the Bishops.
According to the complaint against Tonya Bishop, she married Bryan Bishop sometime after the riots. Her legal name before the marriage was Tonya Allison-Oberst, the complaint states.
A Washington, D.C., judge issued the warrant for Bryan Bishop last Wednesday and for his wife on Sunday.
Bryan Bishop was identified by matching his photo captured on Capitol security camera footage with his photos on driver’s licenses from Florida, Minnesota and Idaho, as well as a passport application, according to the complaint.
The couple’s address in the Keys is listed on the warrant as 800 35th St. in Marathon, the location of the Middle Keys city’s municipal marina.
According to the complaint against Bryan Bishop, one of the officers he sprayed temporarily lost his eyesight and had to be led to safety by a fellow officer.
“For the next seven to 10 minutes [the officer] had to fight through the crowd without being able to see and was in fear for his life,” the FBI’s complaint states.
