WASHINGTON - A Florida man has been arrested on January 6 for allegedly pepper spraying officers at the Capitol, and law enforcement officials said that he made a menacing call to the FBI special agent investigating his role in the riot.
According to court records, Barry Bennett Ramey, who is said to be associated with the Proud Boys, was arrested on Thursday in Florida. He is facing charges of assault on federal law enforcement officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon, entering or remaining on restricted grounds with intent to impede, engaging in an act of physical violence while using or carrying and deadly or dangerous weapon, and an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
Ramey called the FBI special agent investigating his case earlier this month and read aloud the agent's home address, according to the FBI affidavit. He texted the agent the agent's former vehicle identification number.
The FBI affidavit, which also cites information from FBI Miami obtained from multiple confidential human sources, says Ramey was listed on a master list of Proud Boys members in Southern Florida. The Proud Boys are a group of Trump supporters who describe themselves as a group of Western Chauvinists and have a record of attending events where violence erupts. During the 2020 campaign, Trump told the Proud Boys to stand by and stand by. Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys, is facing federal charges in connection with planning the attack.
Two officers on Jan. 6 were hit with a spray that left them disoriented and temporarily blinding as they tried to block the mob supporting President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election from storming the Capitol building.
Court records indicate that a FBI special agent threatened to execute Ramey's arrest warrant on Thursday morning in Plantation, Florida. Ramey will make his first appearance in a federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. The court records don't list an attorney for Ramey.
More than 250 defendants have pleaded guilty to nearly 800 arrests in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Three of the defendants have been found guilty at jury trials, including an Ohio man who claimed he was following presidential orders when he stormed the U.S. Capitol and stole a bottle of alcohol and a coat rack.
Hundreds of additional rioters have been identified to the FBI but have not been arrested yet, according to a report by NBC News. The total number of individuals who could face charges for their actions on January 6 - either because they unlawfully entered the Capitol building or assaulted law enforcement outside - is over 2,500.
Federal authorities released details about the arrest of a Jan. 6 defendant who discussed to the riot on a rideshare dashboard camera that an Uber driver turned into the FBI earlier this week.