Charlottesville tiki torch carrier pleads guilty in Jan. 6 riot case
A former Marine who carried a tiki torch ahead of a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., pleaded guilty Friday in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Tyler Bradley Dykes, of Bluffton, S.C., pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers who were protecting the Capitol. The crime carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release, according to the plea agreement.
Attorneys for Dykes did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
Dykes, 26, was arrested in July, on a series of federal charges, including misdemeanors. Prosecutors agreed to request the dismissal of the other counts in the indictment during sentencing as part of his plea agreement, according to court documents.
His sentencing is scheduled for July 19.
According to court documents, Dykes subscribed to a series of public Telegram groups tied to the 2020 presidential election, allegations of voter fraud and events related to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory ahead of the Jan. 6 riot. One group that he subscribed to, which called for violence and overthrowing the government by force, included a message that referred to a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler, prosecutors said.
Dykes — who previously served a prison sentence following a felony conviction tied to the 2017 torch-lit march in Charlottesville a night before the "United the Right" rally — wore a gray puffer jacket and neck gaiter over his face during the Capitol riot, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Dykes was among a group of rioters who sought to push their way into the Capitol through the East Rotunda doors. Dykes was also accused of forcibly stealing a U.S. Capitol Police officer’s riot shield and using it to push his way into the Capitol and to impede the police line defending the Capitol once inside.
Among the more than 859 defendants who have been sentenced since the 2021 riot, more than 520 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration ranging from a few days to 22 years in federal prison.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
