FL Man Assaulted Officer In Jan. 6 Riot At U.S. Capitol: U.S. DOJ

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Florida man who assaulted a law enforcement officer during theJan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol faces various charges, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Michael Jerrett Amos of Naples was arrested Friday in Florida and charged with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

He was also charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

Amos was among a crowd of rioters in the West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol building, where officers formed a police line and tried to keep them from pushing against established fencing and pulling it down. He was near the front of the crowd of rioters, the DOJ said.

Around 2 p.m., a group of rioters near where Amos was standing began to pull some of the metal fencing to the ground along with a group of police officers. Officers were able to reestablish the police line; however, the crowd of rioters continued to pull on the fencing.

Amos allegedly surged forward toward the police line with a flagpole in his hands and extended it in the direction of officers, court documents said.

As police reestablished their line, he remained at the front of the group of rioters and held an object consistent with a canister of pepper spray, the DOJ said.

At about 2:12 p.m., rioters once again surged up the stairs in the same area and attacked officers, pulling some of them down the steps. Other officers then advanced down the steps to protect and retrieve the others, at which time, from the side of the crowd of rioters, it is alleged that Amos pulled the canister out of his pocket and sprayed it at the officers.

Amos remained on the West Plaza and was then allegedly captured on body-worn camera footage looking back toward the crowd behind him on the steps and shouting, "Forward…forward!"

Less than one minute later, the crowd surged forward again at the officers, with rioters on the front row pushing and grabbing at officers while those behind, including Amos, were pushing against the others' backs to help them advance, the DOJ said.

While the officers were able to eventually repel this attack and reestablish a police line, the line was finally and decisively breached only minutes later at approximately 2:30 p.m., and the rioters overtook the entire West Plaza.