Insider
- Alan William Byerly was charged Wednesday in connection to the US Capitol riot.
- Byerly is accused of assaulting a federal officer and obstructing federal law enforcement.
- Byerly's Facebook page shows he was a fan of former President Donald Trump.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged Wednesday with assaulting a journalist and several police officers during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
A criminal complaint, filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, accuses Alan William Byerly of attacking several police officers during a melee outside the halls of Congress, where lawmakers were meeting to certify President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election.
A review of body camera footage from three officers with the Metropolitan Police Department shows they "were physically assaulted" by Byerly, according to the complaint. Byerly is also accused of charging at officers with a "taser or taser-like device" and grabbing one officer's baton. He was ultimately disarmed but was able to escape "with the assistance of a fellow rioter," the document states.
Prior to attacking police, the complaint alleges that Byerly also took part in a mob attack on John Minchillo, a photographer for the Associated Press. Video of the attack, recorded by the photographer, shows a man in a "Kutztown" beanie shoving Minchillo.
Kutztown, home to a state university, is about five miles from Byerly's home in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania.
Byerly, identified by federal authorities in court documents as the man in the Kutztown beanie, is accused of shoving and dragging Minchillo back to a flight of stairs that other assailants had earlier pulled him down.
According to federal authorities, Byerly was turned in by someone who has known him for at least six years after having "mentioned to a friend that he is just waiting to be arrested because he knows his picture has been publicized." Cell phone records show that he was in Washington, DC, on January 6, the complaint states.
An Insider review of Byerly's Facebook page shows that he was a fan of former President Donald Trump, as well as a number of Pennsylvania Republicans who have sought to discredit the results of the 2020 election, including state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a potential candidate for governor in 2022.
Insider/Facebook
In a radio interview following the insurrection, Mastriano, who chartered buses to bring protesters to Washington, DC, on January 6, described those fighting with police as "agitators," asserting that "this is not our crowd." In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, he issued a statement stating that "I do not - nor would I ever - condone the violence we saw today." (It's unclear if Byerly took one of those buses, neither the criminal complaint or his own Facebook indicate that he did.)
Mastriano has continued to promote debunked claims of election fraud, recently backing an "audit" campaign that falsely alleges the Chinese government altered vote tallies.
According to a joint statement by federal and state election security officials, the 2020 vote was in fact "the most secure in American history."
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