Source: United States Department of Justice News
WASHINGTON – A South Carolina man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges 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.
Tyler Bradley Dykes, 25, of Bluffton, South Carolina, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with nine offenses, including the felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.
Dykes is also charged with seven other misdemeanor offenses related to his actions that day, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions, engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of government business or official functions; knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or grounds; or attempt or conspire to do so; the person, during and in relation to the offense, uses or carries a deadly or dangerous weapon or firearm; utter loud, threatening, or abusive language, or engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct, at any place in the grounds or in any of the Capitol buildings with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of a session of congress or either House of Congress, or the orderly conduct in that building of a hearing before, or any deliberations of, a committee of congress or either House of Congress, engage in any act of physical violence in the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings, parade, demonstrate, or picket in any of the Capitol buildings.
Dykes was arrested in Charlottesville, Virginia, and made his initial appearance on July 17, 2023, in the Western District of Virginia.
According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Dykes attended the “Stop the Steal” rally and, afterward, marched with others to the U.S. Capitol building. Court documents say that Dykes can be seen in open-source video tearing down barriers with other rioters as they approached restricted grounds. Eventually, Dykes joined a mob of rioters as it attacked and overwhelmed a line of law enforcement officers attempting to protect the Capitol’s east side.
As detailed in court documents, Dykes later fought to hold open the Columbus Door on the east side of the building as law enforcement officers attempted to secure the entrance. Shortly thereafter, Dykes can be seen in open-source video stealing a riot shield from a law enforcement officer and raising it over his head to keep it from them.
Court records say that law enforcement then deployed pepper spray in Dykes’s direction in an attempt to subdue him and regain control of the shield. After successfully stealing the riot shield, additional video footage depicts Dykes holding the shield while he parades around various areas inside the Capitol building.
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 Offices for the Western District of Virginia and the District of South Carolina.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Columbia, South Carolina, Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 30 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,069 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 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.