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Fort Worth man arrested, accused of assaulting officers in Jan. 6 attack on US Capitol

Blythe is accused of taking part in attacks at the Peace Circle, in which a metal crowd control barrier was used against two officers from the U.S. Capitol Police.
Credit: AP
FILE - Violent protesters, loyal to President Donald Trump, storm the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection poked another hole in the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that federal agents orchestrated the attack, confirming on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, that a man at the center of the claims said he’d never been an FBI informant. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FORT WORTH, Texas — Another North Texas man has been arrested for his role in the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia  announced. 

Officials announced Monday that 26-year-old Jason Blythe, of Fort Worth, was named in a superseding indictment returned in the District of Columbia. 

The indictment also includes four defendants previously charged in the case: James Tate Grant, 29, of Hot Springs, North Carolina; Paul Russell Johnson, 36, of Lenexa, Virginia; Stephen Chase Randolph, 32, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and Ryan Samsel, 38, of Levittown, Pennsylvania. All four of those defendants previously pleaded not guilty. 

Blythe is accused of taking part in attacks at the Peace Circle, in which a metal crowd control barrier was used against two officers from the U.S. Capitol Police, including one who sustained bodily injury.

Blythe was arrested by the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force in Fort Worth and faces several charges, including civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon, and engaging in and carrying out an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds. 

Blythe was scheduled to make his initial appearance Monday in the Northern District of Texas. 

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and its Fort Worth Resident Agency, along with the FBI’s Washington Field Office. 

Blythe was identified as #52 in its seeking information photos, the FBI says.

Credit: FBI

Blythe is among dozens of North Texans arrested for the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol, including the most recent arrest of the founder of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers, Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, 56, of Granbury. 

RELATED: Detention hearing underway for Granbury Oath Keeper founder charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack 

In the one year since Jan. 6, more than 725 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 225 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov. 

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