There’s another new criminal case this week stemming from the attack on the Capitol in early 2021, this time with two defendants — a romantic couple — from North Carolina. Defendants Curtis Davis and Tonya Bishop are both accused of attacking police while at the Capitol that day, where they were allegedly among the riot participants who actually entered the building.
The allegations of their physical confrontations with police have produced felony criminal charges for both. A press release from the Justice Department appears to indicate the pair were wearing matching sweatshirts while allegedly participating in the onslaught at the Capitol, putting a certainly notable cap on the actions they took.
Allegedly, Davis repeatedly — obsessively, even — punched at police officers attempting to defend the premises from rioters, making contact at least once in a strike he later said on camera actually injured his own knuckles, authorities said. The Justice Department’s recounting says that Bishop at one point tried to restrain Davis but that she also physically engaged with law enforcement, including in an encounter in which riot participants were attempting to take a baton from a police officer. “Additional body-worn camera footage reviewed by law enforcement depicted Davis, Bishop, and other rioters inside the Capitol as they attacked and attempted to seize control of an MPD officer’s baton,” the federal release, issued Monday, says.
Bishop also attempted to seemingly seize another officer’s baton at a later juncture, authorities added, contending that she and Davis were resisting attempts by police to force riot participants from the Capitol Rotunda. And apparently, Bishop later climbed atop a law enforcement vehicle outside the Capitol, expressing interest around that time in heading back inside the building.
Precedent suggests the duo could receive sentences of perhaps years in prison, with the more serious charges in Capitol riot cases having already led to such stints in detention for some defendants.
