New arrests are continuing in criminal cases stemming from the Capitol riot in early 2021.
The Justice Department has announced charges against northern California man Kyle Travis Colton, who is accused of criminal offenses as steep as obstructing officers during a civil disorder, which is a felony offense and reflects criminal allegations that have at this point often appeared in Capitol riot cases. Colton is among the accused rioters who authorities say actually entered the Capitol building, putting him in a subset of the day’s participants upon whom prosecutors have focused alongside individuals accused of physically attacking police whether inside or outside of the building.
While, as alleged, actually participating in the Capitol attack, Colton resisted officers’ efforts to push rioters from the Capitol Rotunda. The Justice Department also says that Colton returned a flagpole that a fellow rioter had used to assault police to the improvised weapon’s original wielder. “Colton gained control of the flagpole, which the officer had also grabbed, and then gave it back to the rioter, who then fled into the crowd of rioters with the flagpole,” according to a press release.
A court filing associated with his case accuses Colton of bragging about his participation in what happened while on a departing flight, an incident about which federal authorities say they were notified. The tip was, as summarized, that Colton “had told other passengers, seated on the flight that he was a part of the “second wave” of rioters in the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.” Federal investigators interviewed the person who provided the original tip and a second individual from the same flight to whom Colton had evidently shown some of his pictures and footage.
Federal investigators also found text messages on another individual’s phone containing images taken by, evidently, Colton from inside the Capitol. Though the third individual is not identified, it appears contextually they helped Colton with transportation. Trump’s repeatedly stated interest in potentially pardoning January 6 participants if he regains the presidency continues to loom over these cases, possibly even affecting defendants’ calculations as they face criminal proceedings. Read more at this link.
