"I am the ultimate patriot:" Dale Huttle of Crown Point charged with assault in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
CROWN POINT, Ind. (CBS) — A Crown Point, Ind., man has been arrested on felony charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Dale Huttle, 71, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and related felony and misdemeanor offenses. He was arrested on Nov. 9, 2022, in Crown Point. He was released pending further court proceedings in the District of Columbia.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey spoke with Huttle at his home on Tuesday and repeatedly said he was following orders of President Trump. "I did no harm. I did it with passion and conviction," he said. "We were invited there by the president [Trump] himself."
"I am the ultimate patriot because I put myself on the line. I have no regrets. I will not say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm in this situation."
Huttle said he believed Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from the former president.
"Trump's backers were told that the election had been stolen," Huttle said. "I sat there with half a million people listening to [Trump's Jan. 6] speech and in that speech both [Rudy] Guiliani and he said we are going to have to fight like hell to save our country."
Huttle's nephew, Matthew Huttle, 40, of Hebron, Ind., was arrested Monday in Boise, Idaho. He is charged in the same complaint with misdemeanor offenses. He will make his initial court appearance later this week in the District of Idaho.
According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Dale Huttle and his nephew illegally entered the Capitol grounds. Dale Huttle then engaged in at least two violent confrontations with law enforcement officers on the west side of the building.
Shortly after 2:05 p.m., as a mob of rioters began to forcefully remove bike rack barriers set up to secure the area, Dale Huttle approached the front of a crowd of rioters with a long wooden flagpole in hand.
He wielded the flagpole at Washington, D.C. metropolitan police officers, striking at least two officers, according to the court filing.
Approximately 30 minutes later, he became involved in another altercation in which he appeared to grab an officer's baton, as he yelled "Surrender!"
Huttle said he plans to fight the charges against him.
"Pictures lie. I want to see the film I want to see testimony to police I want to see the police body cams," he said. "They're trying to take my pole from me, the flag from me. I'm stepping backward trying to get the pole away. That's why it looks like an attack. It was not that though."
Matthew Huttle, meanwhile, made his way into the Capitol Building at approximately 2:58 p.m., entering through doors next to the Senate wing, according to the complaint. He is believed to have exited the building briefly before re-entering at about 3:06 p.m. and remaining inside for another 10 minutes.
In the 22 months since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 275 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.