A Kentucky man is facing charges after allegedly attacking police officers with bear spray during the 2021 U.S. Capitol riots.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., said Andrew Kyle Grigsby, 29, of Louisville, has been charged with five felonies, including disorderly and disruptive conduct, engaging in physical violence and assaulting, resisting or obstructing officers using a dangerous weapon and causing bodily harm after attempting to break a police line and spray a liquid, believed to be bear spray, at officers at a stairwell.
He also faces two misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and acts of physical violence on Capitol grounds or buildings.
Prosecutors originally filed charges in the case in November 2023, and Grigsby was charged in August, court records show. He was indicted on Friday and is currently in custody in Washington, DC
Grigsby’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the case.
Court records detail an alleged series of events on January 6
According to the criminal complaint, investigators saw Grigsby on video holding a black van and walking up the northwest stairwell toward a line of police officers defending the area. As he approached the police line, he raised his arm and sprayed the officers with what investigators believe is bear spray, causing them to temporarily retreat.
Shortly afterwards, video shows him walking down the stairs, still holding the spray, court records show. Another angle of the video shows him standing among a group of rioters and police officers, holding a police shield under temporary scaffolding next to the stairs, court records state.
He was seen again later that day at a different location on the Capitol grounds.
Investigators determined the man in the images was Grigsby after a Kentucky resident who worked with him and had known him for several years confirmed his identity.
Grigsby told investigators he was in Washington, D.C., on the day of the riot and remembered wearing the clothing seen in video footage, though he denied entering the building’s grounds or intentionally spraying a police officer, it appears from the court records.
During another interview, he said he found the canister against a wall when he arrived at the Capitol and tried to spray rioters as they attacked police on the stairwell, according to court records.
Video footage shows a man, who investigators believe is 29-year-old Andrew Kyle Grigsby, of Louisville, Kentucky, allegedly bear-spraying police officers at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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Other Kentuckians charged in connection with Capitol riots
At least 24 people with ties to the Commonwealth were arrested in Kentucky in connection with the January 6 riots. More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the event, according to a list maintained by National Public Radio in November.
A Louisville militia member said in a chat, “It’s time for good men to do bad things” before participating in the breach. He was later sentenced to five years in prison.
Another man, Michael Sparks, allegedly entered the Capitol through a broken window and was charged with nine charges, including civil unrest. The Elizabethtown resident was convicted in March on several counts, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He faces four years and five months in prison, where parole is not an option, court records show.
President Donald Trump said earlier during his campaign that he would pardon individuals involved if he won the 2024 election.
The uprising, which took place more than four years ago, has splintered partisan lines. A Washington Post poll from the University of Maryland last year found that about 86% of Democrats said the attack should not be forgotten and 72% of Republicans said it was time to move on.
Contact breaking news reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on. Contact breaking news reporter Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky: Man charged in J6 Capitol riot after police sprayed bears