Colorado man in custody for assaulting law enforcement during breach of U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6
A man from Wheat Ridge has been taken into custody for assaulting law enforcement, along with other charges during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Matthew James Melsen, 34, was taken into custody and charged with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, according to a press release from the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew M. Graves. He was taken into custody on Wednesday in Wheat Ridge and made his first court appearance in the District of Colorado.
Melsen has also been charged with several misdemeanor offenses, which include 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, impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings, and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
On Jan. 6 at approximately 2:15 p.m., police bodycam footage showed Melsen arriving at the bike rack barricades separating a crowd of rioters from the U.S. Capitol buildings on the West Plaza of Capitol grounds, according to the press release.
Melsen was seen wearing a white t-shirt over a red long-sleeve t-shirt, a navy coat, jeans, and a black baseball hat with white lettering that read "Keep America Great."
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He then reached over the bike rack barricades and pushed a Metropolitan Police Department officer and the officer responded by pushing him into the crowd. Melsen retaliated by charging at the officer and pushing them back in the chest and that's when he was pushed back toward the crowd and sprayed with OC spray.
That's when Melsen then moved back into the crowd of rioters away from the police line and later seen in an open-source video climbing onto the inaugural stage scaffolding on the West Plaza of Capitol grounds, according to the press release.
At approximately 3:54 p.m., Melsen had made his way onto the inaugural stage and through the dense crowd of rioters and approached the archway at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.
Inside the tunnel moments later, an officer climbed up on a ledge and attempted to stop a rioter from climbing into the tunnel and on top of officers by "prodding the rioter with a long stick."
The rioter grabbed the stick and tried to pull it away from the officer. Melsen also grabbed the stick and held onto it with the other rioters until the stick broke, according to the press release.
The rioter then used the broken side of the stick to forcefully strike the officers' shields several times while yelling, "LET US IN!"
A few seconds later, another officer attempted to use a baton to stop the rioter from attacking the police and that's when Melsen tried to grab the officer's baton to prevent him from using it.
Melsen was later identified as BOLO #375 on the FBI's website which help led to his arrest.
In the 37 months since Jan. 6 happened more than 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
