Suburban Chicago man charged with spraying wasp and hornet spray at police during Capitol riot
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man from southwest suburban Chicago was arrested Thursday on charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer while participating in the U.S. Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
William Lewis, 57, sprayed wasp and hornet spray at police officers during the riot, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
Lewis was charged in a criminal complaint with felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and civil disorder. He is also charged with misdemeanor counts of destruction of government property, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and willfully and knowingly engaging in an act of physical violence in the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings, prosecutors said.
Lewis, of Burbank. Ill. will make his initial court appearance at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago.
Prosecutors said Lewis participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and deployed wasp and hornet spray at law enforcement officers three different times on the West Plaza of the Capitol. He then threw the empty canister of wasp and hornet spray at the officers, prosecutors said.
Lewis then advanced to the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol grounds, where the inauguration stage was being assembled. He used a police baton to slam and break three glass panes of a Capitol window just to the right of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, prosecutors said.
Repairing the windowpanes cost $1,761, according to court documents.
More than 1,200 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states in connection with the Capitol riot.
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