A West Jordan man accused of breaching the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was arrested Wednesday on felony and misdemeanor charges — more than a year and a half after the riot unfolded.
As a rioter that day, Justin Dean Adams first confronted police officers on the upper west plaza outside the Capitol, court documents state. After the 46-year-old made “physical contact” with a police officer and was “pushed back several feet,” Adams “charged at the police line, physically attacking one or more officers.”
Pushed back again, he continued to yell and gesture “aggressively” at officers, while other rioters “attempted to hold him back,” court records state.
Several minutes later, Adams grabbed a metal bicycle rack that officers were using to prevent the mob from advancing, and threw a plastic bottle at a police officer who tried to stop him from removing the bike rack, according to authorities.
Eventually, Adams and another rioter pulled the bike rack away from officers and “dragged it into the crowd,” court records state.
Adams is charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during civil disorder, both felonies, as well as several misdemeanors.
He marks the 11th Utahn charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, more than 880 people have been arrested in “nearly” all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 270 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation continues.
