Ohio man stole a coat rack in Capitol riots; another brought a bottle of bourbon, court records say

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio man is charged with stealing a coat rack during the US Capitol riots and another was found with marijuana and an open bottle of bourbon, according to court records.

Dustin Byron Thompson and Robert Anthony Lyon were sitting on the sidewalk on a street near the U.S. Capitol grounds hours after the Jan. 6 rioting when they were approached by two Capitol Police special agents.

Thompson, 36, of Columbus' University District, was wearing a Trump 2020 winter hat and a bulletproof vest, and Lyon, 27, whom records indicate has resided in Columbus and Reynoldsburg, had a Trump 2020 flag. The pair told the agents they were waiting for an Uber to take them back to their Maryland hotel, according to court records obtained by The (Columbus) Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network.

The agents told the men that they were in a secure zone and directed them to a location where they could be picked up. As the two began to leave, Thompson picked up a wooden coat rack with brass holders that was behind him.

Ohio men charged with disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds

On Friday, Thompson and Lyon each were charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted federal building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Thompson also was charged with theft of the coat rack. The charges were filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, where all the charges against those involved in the insurrection are being handled.

Neither man could be reached for comment Friday.

When Thompson grabbed the coat rack to leave, agents immediately suspected from its appearance — and later confirmed with a bar code on the item — was stolen from inside the Capitol building. Records indicate it was taken from S132, an office of the U.S. Secretary of the Senate located on the ground (first) floor of the U.S. Capitol.

Agents told Thompson to put down the coat rack. He complied, but then immediately ran away. Lyon did not attempt to run, cooperated with the agents and gave them consent to search his bag for stolen property. Inside, they found marijuana, two pipes and an open bottle of bourbon that were confiscated, records show.

Watch: Mitch McConnell says attack at the Capitol was ‘provoked by the president’

Lyon also identified Thompson, whom he said he had met a few years earlier at Ohio State University, and allowed agents to look at his cellphone, which contained a picture of Thompson and showed several calls between the two men. After interviewing him, the agents allowed Lyon to leave.

After the questioning, Lyon returned back to their Maryland hotel to find Thompson, and the next day the two traveled home to Ohio.

'Wooooo! ‘Merica Hey! This is our house!': A federal investigation

On Jan. 11, Lyon was interviewed by FBI agents in his Columbus residence, the court records show. He stated that he and Thompson met at "a university in Ohio" — believed to be Ohio State — and they had known each other for a few years.

It was Thompson's idea to travel to the Capitol, Lyon said, and while in the vicinity of the Capitol building, Thompson had walked away from him and returned holding a coat stand made of wood with bronze racks.

Lyon told the FBI he did not ask where the stand came from.

He agreed to allow the FBI agents to view messages on his phone, specifically with Thompson, and gave them consent to download his Samsung Note 4. Records indicate the device contained a picture of Thompson holding the stolen coat rack and an American flag outside the Capitol and a video sent from Thompson to Lyon on the day of the riots.

The video shows a ransacked Capitol office and Thompson passing in front of a mirror with his cellphone, recording himself and yelling: "Wooooo! ‘Merica Hey! This is our house!”

Federal authorities also uncovered security footage that shows Thompson entering the Capitol building, walking into an office and exiting the room holding a bottle of bourbon. He then leaves the Capitol building.

An FBI agent noticed Lyon had sent a message on his cellphone to Thompson while the rioting was underway at the Capitol saying, "We need to get the (expletive) out with this trophy.” Asked why this message came from Lyon if he did not take the coat rack and was not in the Capitol, FBI agents stated in court records that Lyon "became visibly nervous and expressed his desire to clear up any misunderstanding and cooperate."

However, Lyon told the FBI agents that he had not been inside of the Capitol, but he believed that Thompson had been.

Four minutes after Thompson is shown in the first footage leaving the Capitol, video shows Thompson re-entering the building with Lyon. The pair entered the same office as before, records and images show, and this time when they leave Thompson is carrying a coat rack.

Follow Emma Scott Moran on Twitter: @emmascottmoran

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio man charged in Capitol riots accused of stealing coat stand