Idaho man charged with hitting officers during Capitol siege

by REBECCA BOONE Associated Press
| April 15, 2021 4:30 PM

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man has been arrested and charged with attacking police officers during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Duke Edward Wilson, 66, of Nampa, was arrested Thursday and charged with five crimes in connection with the violent siege at the Capitol, including assaulting or impeding officers, obstructing law enforcement and entering a restricted building without authority, the FBI said in a statement on Thursday. If convicted, the penalties for the charges range from six months to up to 20 years in prison.

Wilson is at least the fourth Idaho resident to be charged in the insurrection so far.

In a sworn statement filed in Wilson's case, an FBI special agent said he identified Wilson after reviewing videos posted to social media, security camera footage and police officer body camera footage from the siege. The agent said Wilson was among rioters in the tunnels of the Capitol building, and that he pushed his way to the front of the lines where officers were trying to hold the rioters back.

The FBI agent said Wilson jabbed at officers with a PVC pipe, worked with other rioters to pull away an officer's shield and punched and pushed officers.

FBI agents interviewed one of Wilson's neighbors in Nampa, according to the court document, and the neighbor reportedly identified Wilson as the person depicted in one of the FBI's posters showing people wanted for violence at the Capitol. The neighbor also told the agent that he knew Wilson went to Washington, D.C., for a rally at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and that he returned home late the next day.

Wilson is charged with entering and remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees; parading, demonstrating or picketing a Capitol building; obstruction of an official proceeding; and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder.

Wilson has not yet had an opportunity to enter a plea in the case, and his public defense attorney couldn't be immediately reached for comment.