February 10, 2022 - WASHINGTON — A Georgia man was arrested today for assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of the 
U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Jake Maxwell, 20, of Athens, Georgia, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and related offenses. He was arrested in Flowery Branch, Georgia, and is to make his initial appearance today in the Northern District of Georgia.
According to court documents, on Jan. 6, Maxwell engaged in physical confrontations with law enforcement officers in the West Plaza area of the Capitol grounds. He banged his hands and pushed on the riot shield of a U.S. Capitol Police officer as the officer tried to push him away with the shield. He then moved towards an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department and got into a physical struggle with him. During that struggle, Maxwell first hooked his arm around the officer’s baton. The officer then got his baton away from Maxwell and used it to keep Maxwell away from the line of law enforcement trying to protect the Capitol building from the crowd of rioters. Maxwell, however, grabbed the officer’s baton with his left hand and pulled on it during the struggle.
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 Northern District of Georgia.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office and its Athens Resident Agency, as well as the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Maxwell as #474 in its seeking-information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.
In the one year since Jan. 6, more than 725 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 225 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.
An indictment or complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
