JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Yulee man was arrested Monday for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and other charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The Department of Justice said the alleged actions of Garth Nathaniel Walton, 32, disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
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Walton is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. In addition to the felonies, Walton is 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.
The FBI arrested Walton and he made his initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida.
According to court documents, police body-worn camera footage from Jan. 6, 2021, shows Walton was present on Capitol grounds on the Lower West Plaza that day. At about 1:30 p.m., law enforcement officers had formed a defensive line on the plaza and had nearly completed a line of metal barricades at the top of the West Plaza stairs.
It is alleged that Walton went up approximately four steps, approached the line of officers, and grabbed a metal barricade and pushed it into the officers. Seconds later, after retreating down the West Plaza stairs, Walton again charged the police line and pushed the metal barricade into officers. It is further alleged that Walton then picked up a white pole and threw it at the officers, according to the DOJ.
In the 42 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,470 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 530 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.