October 19, 2024 – WASHINGTON - A Georgia man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting law enforcement with a weapon and other charges during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged 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.
Cylester Maxwell, 42, of Alpharetta, Georgia, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon and civil disorder.
In addition to the felonies, Maxwell is charged with misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and act of physical violence in a Capitol building or grounds.
Maxwell was arrested on Friday in Georgia and is expected to make his initial appearance in the Northern District of Georgia.
According to court documents, Maxwell was identified in open-source video footage on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., marching with a crowd of rioters away from the "Stop the Steal" rally at the Ellipse and toward the Capitol building. By approximately 1:35 p.m., Maxwell made it onto restricted Capitol grounds positioned near the front of the crowd confronting a police line on the West Plaza near the Media Tower erected in front of the Inaugural Stage.
Just before about 1:40 p.m., rioters began passing a giant metal-framed "TRUMP" sign from the southwestern portion of the crowd on the West Plaza toward the center-front of that crowd. Court documents say that the metal sign frame was approximately eight feet tall and ten feet wide, welded with screws, and supported by large casters that were about the size of a person's head.
It is alleged that as the sign approached, Maxwell turned to watch the sign's progression and raised his fist as it approached his position. Maxwell then pointed at the sign and moved forward to assist, grabbing one of the sign's large wheels. Maxwell then allegedly helped pass the sign to other rioters. Moments later, at approximately 1:40 p.m., Maxwell reapproached the sign as rioters began to push it directly toward the police line.
It is alleged that Maxwell reached up to the sign and grabbed the metal frame, first with both hands, then with his right hand while bracing his left arm on the back of a rioter in front of him. Maxwell then pushed forward into the sign and, together with other members of the crowd holding the sign, shoved the sign into the line of police like a battering ram. Several seconds later, after the sign was pushed into the officers, Maxwell let go of it and grabbed and pulled a barricade away from the police line.
Later, at about 2:10 p.m. on the West Plaza, video footage shows Maxwell pull another bike rack barricade away from the police line. Maxwell later joined the front of the mob as it pushed into and successfully broke through the West Plaza police line. He then remained on or near the West Plaza for some time as rioters flooded the Capitol's Lower and Upper West Terraces.
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.
This case is being investigated by the FBI's Atlanta and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 45 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 571 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: maxwell_sof_0.pdf [PDF]
Source & photos: DOJ Release
