Dec 9, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Michigan man charged with assaulting officers at Capitol riot

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Photo: Brent Stirton/Getty Images

A Michigan man charged over the U.S. Capitol riot was accused in federal court in Detroit Wednesday of using chemical spray on law enforcement officers during the insurrection.

The big picture: Tim Levon Boughner, 41, of Romeo, is one of more than 700 people who've been arrested in nearly all 50 states over the Capitol breach — including over 220 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, per a Department of Justice statement.

Driving the news: Boughner was arrested Tuesday and charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges, according to the DOJ.

  • Prosecutors allege video shows him among a mob spraying officers who were attempting to secure the Capitol building and that he referred to this in a social media post later that day saying he had "f---- those cops up."
  • On Feb. 17, he allegedly posted, "My life has not been the same since this day … I still don't know how I ended up on the capital steps having a pepper spray fight with the capital police."
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