Rioter Handcuffed and Released on Jan. 6 Finally Faces the Music
A Missouri man who was briefly handcuffed then released by Capitol Police on Jan. 6 is now facing eight federal charges stemming from the pro-Trump riot. Jared Luther Owens and his co-defendant, U.S. Army veteran Jason William Wallis, allegedly hurled a bike rack at a line of cops trying to prevent protesters from breaching the Capitol building, according to a detention motion filed Monday by prosecutors.
One of them “saw Owens break through the police line and push another U.S. Capitol Police officer up against a wall,” the filing states. “After seeing the assault of the other officer, Officer D.T. detained Owens. The officer took Owens to an exit, released Owens from handcuffs and allowed him to exit through the Senate Carriage Door.”
In a complaint added to the federal docket later on Monday, after the case was transferred from Missouri, where the pair was arrested, to Washington, D.C., where they will be tried, the Deputy U.S. Marshal on the case wrote that Wallis was identified on Apr. 29, 2021, by a friend of more than 20 years.