Montana fire chief is charged in Jan. 6 riot and accused of spraying officers in the face
WASHINGTON — A fire chief in Montana was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, accused of shooting chemical spray "directly into the face" of a Capitol Police officer and at the face of a Washington, D.C., police officer.
Frank Dahlquist — who was previously a firefighter in Washington state and advocated against vaccination mandates — faces numerous charges, including assault and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. He is the chief of West Valley Fire Rescue in Montana and was sworn into that role in November 2022.
Dahlquist was identified with the help of online sleuths — or "sedition hunters" — who have aided in the arrests of hundreds of Capitol rioters. They had dubbed him #GreyScaleSprayer, and they surfaced a high-quality photo of him from Jan. 6, 2021, that led to a facial recognition match to a 2022 news story featuring a video interview with Dahlquist.
The FBI also had two of Dahlquist's supervisors from his job in Washington identify him in August 2022, according to an FBI affidavit, and found that his cellphone number pinged in the vicinity of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The FBI affidavit alleges that Dahlquist had his face partly covered when he attacked officers with an orange chemical spray and that both officers sought medical attention. They say Dahlquist even tried — unsuccessfully — to toss a piece of lumber in the direction of law enforcement officers when the mob moved closer to the Capitol. The FBI said he then entered the building, stayed on the grounds after he left the Capitol and "continued to engage with law enforcement."
"It was a great day!! It got spicy but I love the taste of Freedom," Dahlquist wrote in a text message after the attack, according to the FBI.
The arrest was first reported by Seamus Hughes of Court Watch, a website that tracks federal court filings. Dahlquist did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Wednesday.
More than 1,200 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and online sleuths have identified hundreds of addition suspects who have not yet been arrested. Nearly 900 people have been convicted so far.
