NC Proud Boy was in ‘front ranks’ of Jan. 6 violence at Capitol, feds say

The FBI arrested a 46-year-old Concord man in Charlotte on Tuesday, accusing him of participating in the violent breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Jay Robert Thaxton joined other members of the Proud Boys in storming the Capitol to disrupt a joint session of Congress, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Congress convened the session to count electoral votes, certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election over Donald Trump.

‘Grabbed, pushed and pulled’ barricades

Publicly available footage shows Thaxton heading to “the front ranks of the rioters” as they neared the Lower West Plaza of the Capitol, according to a criminal complaint filed against Thaxton in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

The FBI charged Thaxton with the felony offense of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. He also was charged with: Misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and obstructing or impeding passage in a Capitol building or grounds.

Thaxton and other members of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, marched along the west, north and east sides of the Capitol before breaching it, an FBI agent said in an arrest warrant affidavit.

On the Lower West Plaza, Thaxton “grabbed, pushed and pulled” police bike racks that served as temporary barricades against the rioters, according to court documents.

Rioters eventually breached the police line on the Lower West Plaza, court records show.

Thaxton was arrested in Washington that night on a curfew violation charge, prosecutors said. He couldn’t be reached by The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.

Thaxton joins at least 1,423 others from nearly all 50 states to be charged in connection with the violence.

Members of the U.S. House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack found that Trump provoked his supporters to violence through his false allegations of fraud in the election.