Chemical-Spraying Trump Rioter Turned In By Family & Arrested By Feds

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Ohio man Ryan Swoope, who participated in last year’s Trump-incited attack on the Capitol, has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with multiple felonies after a member of his family notified investigators he appeared to be one of those pictured at the riot.

Two others who formerly lived and may still live with him were also arrested after entering the Capitol during the riot, where the three spent about ten minutes and ventured towards an area known as the Senate Spouses’ Lounge. They all went inside almost an hour after the initial breach of the building and seemingly exited the building of their own accord — although it was around 30 to 40 minutes later that Swoope engaged in an assault on police. Without apparently direct provocation, he sprayed a chemical irritant towards officers who had been attempting to push back some of the rioters gathered outside, and a sergeant with the Capitol Police was directly affected by the cloud of irritant, evidence indicates. Footage shows Swoope was casually talking on a cellphone and smoking a cigarette within about ten minutes before he sprayed the unidentified irritant.

Swoope’s charges include the felony offenses of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, in addition to misdemeanors. The assault charge alone comes with up to 20 years in prison. The others, Saul Llamas and Jordan Siemers, were charged with misdemeanors for their involvement. Although they don’t appear accused of directly perpetrating any violence, prosecutors have also focused on those who entered the Capitol building itself. Swoope and Llamas were apparently childhood friends, and Siemers was identified as Llamas’s girlfriend at least at the time in a court filing. All three were both arrested and set to make their initial appearances in court this week. Besides hearing from Swoope’s family member, investigators also asked a manager at his place of employment to confirm his identity in images from the Capitol, and they also spoke with a family member of Llamas, who provided information about the connections among the three.

Other prominent developments unfolding recently in Capitol riot cases include the convictions by a jury of two top leaders in the Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy connected to the riot, although others involved in the extremist group had already pleaded guilty to the offense. They stockpiled weapons and prepared for potentially lethal violence, partly in hopes of Trump invoking a piece of federal law allowing the involvement of private militias — although some of those involved were also prepared for action no matter what Trump did and helped storm the Capitol. Recently appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith is not handling individual prosecutions of Capitol riot defendants.

Image: Brett Davis/ Creative Commons