The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that a 60-year-old New York man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer with hornet spray and assaulting a journalist in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. .
Peter Moloney was part of the first group to breach the Capitol's restricted perimeter on January 6, first encountering Capitol Police officers and spending the next several hours repelling the attack. . From a mob of thousands.
As part of a plea agreement to avoid prison time, Moloney pleaded guilty to one felony count of assaulting, resisting or obstructing certain police officers and one misdemeanor count of assault by beating.
The Justice Department said Mr. Moloney agreed to pay compensation to the journalist who broke his camera and to the Capitol architect for damage sustained that day. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols will preside over the judicial hearing and is scheduled to sentence Moloney on February 11.
Moloney traveled to Washington from his home in Bayport, New York, to attend a “Stop the Steal” rally hosted by then-President Trump ahead of the storming of the Capitol. According to court documents, the defendant brought protective equipment, including a bicycle helmet, safety glasses, hard-knuckle gloves, a face mask and a can of Black Flag Wasp, Hornet and Yellow Jacket Killer aerosol spray.
Moloney marched to Parliament House wearing a protective suit and was part of the first group to enter the cordoned-off area. He was one of the first in line in front of the Capitol police officer in West Plaza.
“As tensions escalated, Moloney removed a can of wasp spray from his backpack and placed it nearby,” the Justice Department said.
He then grabbed wasp spray and sprayed it toward police “multiple times,” the Justice Department release said. The spray “contacted” the officer's “hands, arms, body, and hands,” according to the release.
According to court documents, Moloney admitted to assaulting the two men on two separate occasions “believing them to be members of the news media.” At one point, he was approached from behind by a journalist with a camera.
Moloney reached forward and grabbed the journalist's hand, then “pulled his hand back in an attempt to remove the camera from the victim's hand. This action caused the victim to trip on the stairs,” the Justice Department said.
Since the January 6 riot, the Justice Department has charged more than 1,532 people with related crimes. This total includes more than 571 people charged with felony assault or obstruction of law enforcement.
