US Capitol Riot

Garland Man Charged With Assaulting Officer With Baton During Jan. 6 US Capitol Riot

Rioters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington.
AP Photo/John Minchillo

A Garland man faces charges he grabbed a police officer’s baton during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and assaulted another officer with it.

Robert Wayne Dennis, 61, was arrested Wednesday and his criminal complaint was unsealed Thursday.

Robert Wayne Dennis, 61, faces charges he grabbed a police officer’s baton during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and assaulted another officer with it.
Garland Police Department
Robert Wayne Dennis, 61, faces charges he grabbed a police officer’s baton during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and assaulted another officer with it.

In the complaint, a Dallas-based FBI agent said he reviewed police body-camera video from Jan. 6 and saw Dennis assaulting officers and impeding them from performing their official duties.

Dennis assaulted one Metropolitan D.C. police officer identified by the initials J.S. near the stairs to the upper west terrace after grabbing another officer’s baton and using it to knock J.S. to the ground in a “violent struggle,” the agent wrote.

A Dallas-based FBI agent said he reviewed police body-camera video from Jan. 6 and saw Dennis assaulting officers and impeding them from performing their official duties.
Metropolitan D.C. Police
A Dallas-based FBI agent said he reviewed police body-camera video from Jan. 6 and saw Dennis assaulting officers and impeding them from performing their official duties.

The officer returned to his feet and continued defending the Capitol while other officers confronted Dennis, the FBI said.

Dennis is charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence; and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds.

A Dallas-based FBI agent said he reviewed police body-camera video from Jan. 6 and saw Dennis assaulting officers and impeding them from performing their official duties.

Dennis provided his identity to them at the time and an officer advised Dennis that a warrant would be obtained for his arrest at a later time so he could get medical attention which they couldn’t provide “due to the ongoing riot.”

An initial appearance before a judge was set for Friday.

Dennis is the 32nd person arrested in connection with the Capitol riot by the Dallas office of the FBI.

A Dallas-based FBI agent said he reviewed police body-camera video from Jan. 6 and saw Dennis assaulting officers and impeding them from performing their official duties.
Metropolitan D.C. Police
A Dallas-based FBI agent said he reviewed police body-camera video from Jan. 6 and saw Dennis assaulting officers and impeding them from performing their official duties.
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