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Defendant Deployed Chemical Spray at Police
January 24, 2024 - WASHINGTON — An Oregon man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including for assaulting law enforcement 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 2020 presidential election.
Andy Steven Oliva-Lopez, 27, of Milwaukie, Oregon, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. In addition to the felonies, Oliva-Lopez is charged with misdemeanor offenses of disorderly and disruptive conduct and act of physical violence in a restricted building or grounds and act of violence in a Capitol building or grounds.
Oliva-Lopez was arrested on Tuesday by the FBI in Milwaukie and made his initial appearance in the District of Oregon.
According to court documents, Oliva-Lopez was identified in open-source video footage and images on Jan. 6, 2021, on the West Front of the Capitol grounds wearing a blue plaid long-sleeve shirt/jacket, beige backpack, khaki pants, a tactical style helmet, and, at times, a full-face respirator. By 2:00 p.m. on January 6th, a crowd of violent rioters, Oliva-Lopez among them, had assembled on the West Front of the Capitol grounds and were engaged in conflicts with assembled law enforcement officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and United States Capitol Police.
At approximately 2:04 p.m., Oliva-Lopez deployed a yellow/orange-colored chemical aerosol multiple times at individual MPD officers. The spray struck at least one officer in the face shield. As police attempted to maintain order and keep the crowd from entering the Capitol, open-source video footage depicts Oliva-Lopez climbing past the temporary scaffolding erected for the upcoming Inauguration. Court documents say that this scaffolding was located well inside the restricted perimeter of the building and its grounds, and it was in an area that was not open to the public.
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 District of Oregon.
This case is being investigated by the FBI's Portland and Washington Field Offices, which identified Oliva-Lopez as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #285 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 36 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,265 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. 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.
Attachment: oliva-lopez_sof.pdf [PDF, 6 MB]
Source: DOJ Release
