Athens man arrested for assaulting law enforcement during Jan. 6 attacks

ATLANTA — A Georgia man was arrested Thursday for assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Prosecutors said Jake Maxwell, 20, of Athens, accosted officers at the West Plaza during the attacks.

[RELATED: One year later: Georgia’s Jan. 6 defendants and where their cases currently stand]

Maxwell has been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds and related offences.

He was arrested in Flowery Branch. He’s set to appear in court Thursday.

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“According to court documents, on Jan. 6, Maxwell engaged in physical confrontations with law enforcement officers in the West Plaza area of the Capitol grounds. He banged his hands and pushed on the riot shield of a U.S. Capitol Police officer as the officer tried to push him away with the shield,” prosecutors said. “He then moved towards an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department and got into a physical struggle with him. During that struggle, Maxwell first hooked his arm around the officer’s baton. The officer then got his baton away from Maxwell and used it to keep Maxwell away from the line of law enforcement trying to protect the Capitol building from the crowd of rioters. Maxwell, however, grabbed the officer’s baton with his left hand and pulled on it during the struggle.”

Photos released in the charging documents show Maxwell yelling at officers and appearing to physically confront them.

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According to the charging documents, Maxwell voluntarily came to the FBI in Atlanta on Dec. 9, 2021 for an interview. During that interview, he identified himself in the photos.

“He said he did not remember doing those things, but he confirmed the person shown doing those things was him,” the documents said. “He said he was under the effects of being sprayed with an irritant, and that he had ‘started freakin’ out.’”

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Unit.

Maxwell is at least the 18th Georgian to be arrested for participating in the Capitol attacks.

18-year-old Georgia Capitol attack suspect assaulted while in custody, court filings show

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