- An accused Capitol rioter boasted about pepper-spraying three police officers in the January 6 attack.
- Riley Kasper said he "basically organized my own little militia," according to a court filing.
- In a Facebook message, he allegedly bragged that his group was "chasing the cops down."
As Riley Kasper told a friend in a private Facebook message, he didn't drive all the way from Wisconsin to Washington, DC, "for nothing" in early January 2021.
On January 6 and the following day, according to court records, Kasper, 23, boasted in messages about having "fought cops all day" and pepper spraying police as he joined in a pro-Trump mob advancing on the Capitol.
"I pepper sprayed 3 cops so bad they got undressed and went home," he messaged a friend on January 6, after sending a video of rioters breaking down a fence with an "AREA CLOSED" sign outside the Capitol. "I basically organized my own little militia and we fucking took over Congress."
More than a year after the Capitol attack, the messages were quoted in court filings connected to Kasper's arrest Wednesday on charges stemming from the January 6 attack. The content of Kasper's messages stand in stark contrast to the assertions of some January 6 riot apologists, including Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, who's called alleged attackers "peaceful patriots."
Kasper stands charged with attacking police with a dangerous weapon and engaging in violence on restricted grounds, along with related offenses, according to newly unsealed court records.
A former high school classmate of Kasper's reported him to the FBI on January 18, 2021, after seeing him post images from January 6 on Facebook, according to court records. In open-source video footage taken that day, Kasper could be seen wearing a camouflage head covering and facemask and spraying police officers with what appeared to be bear spray, an FBI agent said in a sworn affidavit.
A search warrant, issued in November 2021 for Kasper's Facebook account, further substantiated his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, according to court records. In a message that day, he sent a video of the violence to an unidentified recipient and said, "As you see in that video, it was my group that busted the first gate and kept chasing the cops down and pushing them back at the capitol."
In a message to another person the following day, Kasper recounted waking up at 3 a.m. on January 5 and driving 18 hours to Washington, DC. Kasper said in one message that "a lot of the people who were there are planning to go back on the 20th for Biden's inauguration or hopefully lack there of [sic]."
He told the recipient: "You better not bitch out this time, I'm giving you a bunch of time to plan and prepare lol."
Recounting the violence, he said "it's pretty exciting" and "like the most real version of paintball ever."
"Dude cops are pussies, they absolutely do not want to get pepper sprayed!" Kasper wrote, according to court records filed in connection with his arrest.
"You charge that line and start spraying they start running for cover like you're coming at them with an ak," he added, referring to the AK-47 automatic rifle.
Another message described a police officer who was pulled into the crowd, slammed on the ground, and stripped of his club, handcuffs, and radio.
"I'm pretty sure dude thought he was gonna die that day lol," Kasper wrote.
On January 6, a friend appeared impressed with Kasper's role breaking down the fence emblazoned with the "AREA CLOSED" sign, telling him it was "nuts you were right there when they pushed that fence back."
Kasper replied, "Fuck yah bro! I didMt [sic] drive 14 hours for nothing."
Now, Kasper is among the nearly 800 charged in connection with the January 6 attack.
Last week, federal prosecutors secured their first trial victory in a January 6 case against a Texas man, Guy Reffitt, who was charged with leading a mob up the stairs outside the Capitol in a violent encounter with police.
Reffitt is set to be sentenced on June 8.