FBI arrests Missouri man for allegedly assaulting officers during Jan. 6 Capitol riot

Federal authorities arrested a Warrensburg man Wednesday on multiple charges that include allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers during the Capitol riot.

Jack Westly Ryan Jr., 62, faces felony charges of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, court documents show.

The FBI arrested Ryan in Kansas City, and he had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where the charges were filed.

Ryan is the 37th Missouri resident to be charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

He also faces five misdemeanor offenses: knowingly entering or remaining in any 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 or grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol buildings or grounds.

According to the “statement of facts” filed with the charging documents, the FBI published images in May 2021 of a man pushing two police officers near the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol in the “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) section of its Capitol Violence website.

In February 2023, the document says, the FBI received a possible identification of the man and confirmed it was Ryan through his driver’s license photo and surveillance of him at his place of employment.

The FBI also obtained Ryan’s cellphone records from Verizon between Nov. 8, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2021, the document says, which showed he made about 10 calls to the White House and to various U.S. senators in November 2020. The phone records also showed that Ryan’s cellphone was in Washington on Jan. 6.

The FBI interviewed Ryan on Oct. 17, 2023, the document says.

“During that interview, Ryan admitted to taking a bus with a church group out of Lee’s Summit, Missouri to attend the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally in Washington, D.C.,” it says.

When shown police video from the Capitol on Jan. 6, the document says, Ryan identified himself in the footage “and also identified descriptive items on his person to include a blue winter hat, a navy-blue coat, and a wooden cane.”

Ryan told the agent that he went alone to the Ellipse on Jan. 6 to watch Trump speak, the document says. He said it was hard to hear the speech but heard rumors in the crowd that Trump planned to march to the Capitol. Ryan said he walked to the Capitol with a large group and once there, stood near a staircase and witnessed altercations between protesters and police, the document says.

“Body-worn camera from various MPD officers showed that Ryan was among a large crowd of protestors near the Lower West Terrace on U.S. Capitol grounds at approximately 2:00 p.m. on January 6,” it says. “As a group of MPD police officers tried to push through the crowd, they were taunted and met physical resistance from individuals in the crowd.”

Body-worn camera footage from Officer R.S., the document says, showed that Ryan “pushed with his hands against Officer R.W.” Footage from that same officer, it says, “showed that after Officer R.W. pushed Ryan away, Ryan turned his body and reached out to grab Officer R.S.”

“After grabbing at Officer R.S., Ryan turned again and shoved Officer R.W. with his hand,” the document says. “The BWC (body-worn camera) from Officers D.P. and R.S. showed that after making physical contact with Officers R.W. and R.S., Ryan stood in close proximity to Officer R.S. and appeared to gesticulate angrily and yell through his facemask.”

Ryan’s arrest comes as federal authorities continue to file charges in connection with the Capitol attack. In the 39 months since the riot, more than 1,387 people have been charged, 493 of them accused of assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to Justice Department figures.