Berks man is latest charged in Jan. 6 riot

Fleetwood resident ‘waiting to be arrested,’ paperwork says

The FBI has charged a Fleetwood man with assaulting three police officers and a photo journalist during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, federal court documents say.

The actions of Alan W. Byerly, 54, during the attack were laid out in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington last month.

The court document cites video footage that shows Byerly, wearing a gray beanie with “Kutztown” emblazoned on it, assaulting Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Capitol Police officers and an Associated Press photographer.

According to the charging documents:

Byerly was among a crowd of rioters that gathered on the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol grounds. Officers were behind a line of bicycle racks to keep the crowd at bay.

Video shows Byerly just behind the bike racks holding what appears to be a Taser, which he raises in the air with his right hand and activates. Byerly then charges at the officers, some of whom can be heard yelling “Taser! Taser!” to warn their fellow officers.

Within seconds, the officers were able to knock the Taser out of Byerly’s hands. But Bylery kept charging, striking and pushing officers.

At one point he tried to take a baton from an officer, knocking that officer to the ground in the process.

Officers were eventually able to restrain Byerly. However, Byerly was able to escape the scene with the help of a fellow rioter.

The attack on police officers was actually the second assault that Byerly was involved in on Jan. 6.

Earlier that afternoon, Byerly was caught on footage posted by various media outlets joining in on the assault of an Associated Press photographer.

At first, Byerly was merely a witness to the attack, seen in the background watching as other rioters pull the photographer backwards down a set of stairs leading to the western front of the Capitol.

The photographer attempted to defuse the situation by moving to another spot on the stairs, but was followed and again pulled down by rioters.

Byerly eventually turned from observer to participant. He grabbed the photographer and forcefully shoved and dragged him toward a dense portion of the mob.

The gray Kutztown beanie that was visible in the video of the attack on police can also be seen being worn by Byerly in the video of the attack on the photographer.

On Feb. 3, the FBI released photos of the attacker in the gray Kutztown beanie on its social media account, and asked for help in identifying him. More photos were released April 5, and that day a tipster called the FBI and identified Byerly as the man from the photos, documents show.

The tipster, who knows Byerly, said Byerly lives in the Fleetwood area and had mentioned to a friend that “he is just waiting to be arrested because he knows his picture has been publicized.”

Byerly is charged with assault on a federal officer, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building and assault.

A federal magistrate in Allentown ordered Byerly to be jailed pending a detention hearing on Monday. Court records don’t list a defense attorney for him.