Two Fallston men arrested on charges of assaulting cops during Capitol riot

A 49-year-old Fallston man and his 25-yearold stepson were arrested last Monday on charges of assaulting law enforcement officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Douglas Wyatt and his stepson Jacob Michael Therres face felony charges in the District of Columbia of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, along with related misdemeanor charges.

Videos showed both Wyatt and Therres directing a chemical spray at officers outside the Capitol, according to charging documents. Prosecutors said Wyatt handed his stepson a heavy wooden plank that Therres hurled toward police. The plank struck an officer’s head, causing lingering medical effects, court documents said.

Charging documents also describe Wyatt shouting obscenities at a line of officers outside the Capitol, including comments about the “fraudulent” election.

Tipsters pointed investigators to Facebook photos and videos that Wyatt had posted of his activities on Jan. 6. One tipster wrote, “I’m simply reporting a former FB friend for his part in the terrorist acts in Washington D.C. on January 6th,” according to charging documents.

Wyatt wrote on Facebook in the days following the protests of the 2020 election results that he had been at the Capitol, investigators found in records provided by Meta in response to a search warrant. He also searched “fbi most wanted capitol riots” multiple times on Facebook in February 2021, court documents said.

Both men appeared in court Tuesday, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The cases were sealed, and the names of the attorneys representing Therres and Wyatt were not immediately available.

When FBI investigators interviewed Wyatt on Jan. 29, 2021, he told them he had been present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that he had the right to protest at “the People’s House,” court documents said. In April 2021, his attorney said his client “did not go into the Capital building on January 6, did not assault a law enforcement officer, nor anyone else that day, and was not engaged in the destruction of any property.”