Ryan Swoope charged on January 6 with police chemical spraying

via FBI court records.

An Ohio man faces a felony charge for allegedly spraying police with a chemical irritant during a violent clash outside the doors of the US Capitol January 6.

Ryan Swoope28, of Perry, Ohio, is accused of joining the mob in the Capitol on the day Congress was supposed to confirm it Joe Bidens Victory over donald trump in the 2020 presidential election. According to federal investigators, he and two companions, Saul lamas29 and Jordan Siemers25, also of Perry, entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door at approximately 3:08 p.m., nearly an hour after the initial breach.

Swoope was reportedly spotted in the Senate Spouses’ Lounge, where he joined other rioters and shouted “Who’s House? Our house!” He exited the building through the doors of the Senate wing at around 3:17 p.m. after spending approximately nine minutes inside.

However, he did not leave the Capitol at that point, and his subsequent actions likely increased his alleged crimes from misdemeanor to two felonies.

A picture taken outside the Capitol around 3:45 p.m. appears to show Swoope “smoking a cigarette and talking on his cellphone while a member of law enforcement yells into a megaphone and encourages the crowd to leave,” it said it in the affidavit of probable cause.

via FBI court filing.

After what appeared to be an invigorating cigarette break, Swoope re-entered the fight. According to investigators, just moments later — around 3:52 p.m. — Swoope confronted officers from the Metropolitan Police Department outside the north door of the Capitol.

“As the crowd broke the police line, law enforcement was forced to retreat into the Capitol Building,” the affidavit reads, noting that an MPD officer, identified only as Office DE, was at the time being identified by the north door of the building.

“Ten seconds after Officer DE walks through the north door, SWOOPE can be seen in the News2Share video holding up a silver canister [sic] wearing a black top and spraying an orange substance – consistent with a chemical irritant – into the open door and in the direction of law enforcement,” the affidavit said.

As this happened, Officer DE’s body-worn camera captured, according to the affidavit, “the sound of an aerosol spray can followed by a visible can moving in the direction of United States Capitol Police (‘USCP’) Sergeant AB, who was guarding the door.”

Two seconds later, Sergeant AB’s “coughing and tearing of the eyes related to exposure to a chemical irritant” was recorded on Sergeant MR’s body-worn camera, the affidavit said.

A minute later, Swoope can be seen on surveillance footage leaving the area, carrying a silver canister in his right hand.

The FBI’s subsequent “BOLO” — short for “Be On The Lookout” — for Swoope apparently yielded results.

“On November 15, 2021, a relative of SWOOPE called the FBI to report that the individual depicted in BOLO AFO #486 appeared to be SWOOPE,” the affidavit reads. “The relative indicated that they were aware that SWOOPE was headed to Washington, DC on or about January 6, 2021.”

Swoope is charged with assaulting, resisting, or handicapping officers and disturbing police officers during a civil disorder, both crimes. The assault charge, which is compounded over his alleged use of the chemical spray, carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison, while the civil disorder charge carries up to eight years behind bars.

Swoope also faces four counts of trespassing and disorderly conduct that combine to result in three years behind bars.

Llamas and Siemers were also arrested on Thursday. They face the four felonies of trespassing and disorderly conduct that Swoope also faces, but they are not charged with any crimes.

Read the facts here.

[Images via FBI court filings.]

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