Source: United States Department of Justice News
A Pennsylvania man has been arrested on felony charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Terry L. Allen, 64, of Spring Mills, Pennsylvania, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. In addition, Allen is charged with misdemeanor offenses of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or on restricted grounds and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. Allen made his initial appearance today in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Allen was among the crowd of rioters that breached the western perimeter of the U.S. Capitol grounds. Video footage from the day depicts Allen on the west plaza beginning at approximately 12:58 p.m., carrying a black and red flag on a wooden flagpole approximately five feet in length.
Court documents say that video evidence shows Allen shoving and physically assaulting law enforcement officers on the west plaza by using his wooden flagpole as a lance, driving it into officers in a stabbing motion.
Later at approximately 1:56 p.m., Allen is seen on police body-worn camera footage approaching the police line and holding what appears to be a black metallic pole in one hand and a flagpole in the other. Court documents say that officers then deployed pepper spray against Allen and other rioters in the crowd. Allen responded by throwing what appeared and was consistent with a black metallic pole at the officers standing less than ten feet away.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 29 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. 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.