Texas couple arrested and charged with assaulting Capitol cops
"We are on the front lines," Mark Middleton said in a video posted to Facebook
A North Texas couple was arrested after bragging online about their involvement in the deadly Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol Hill insurrection.
Mark and Jalise Middleton were arrested at their home in Forestburg, outside of Dallas, on Wednesday after the FBI identified the couple through police body camera footage, according to the Daily Mail.
Mark, 51, is employed at Nortex Communications, an internet services company, and Jalise, 50, is an account executive for Angels Care Home Health, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
In a criminal complaint, the Federal Bureau of Investigations said the Middletons were captured on video assaulting two Metropolitan Police Department officers guarding the Capitol, according to Insider.
According to the document, as police directed Mark Middleton and other protestors to “get back,” Middleton could be heard yelling back “f— you!” as he pushed against the barricade. The couple continued to strike officers and jab them with flagpoles until one officer forced them to retreat by using a chemical spray.
In now deleted Facebook posts, which had been reviewed by the FBI after receiving a tip, the Middletons were bragging about their involvement in the insurrection.
“We are on the front lines. We helped push down the barriers. Jalise and I got pepper sprayed, clubbed, and tear gassed. We had to retreat, but more patriots pushed forward, and they’re taking back our house,” Mark Middleton said in a video on his personal profile.
“Do not believe the news media, we’re not rioters or mobs. We’ve been the ones supporting the police, backing the police, but this is how we’re being treated?” he said in a separate comment.
Jalise made incriminating posts to her Facebook page, commenting, “We fought the cops to get in the Capital and got pepper-sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!” When someone asked her why she assaulting the officers, she replied, “To get in the Capital to send them bastards a clear message that this won’t be tolerated.”
She deleted the status days later.
Read More: 68-year-old woman sues NC police for violent traffic stop recorded on body camera
Facebook announced that they’re persevering account data to assist in Capitol Hill riot investigations after receiving requests from law enforcement. Forbes reported that Facebook has been in contact with both federal and local agencies.
An analysis from the Program on Extremism at George Washington University showed that 85 percent of rioters were charged due to evidence from their personal social media accounts.
Approximately 439 people to date have been arrested in connection to the riot.
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