Cowboy hat-wearing MAGA rioter charged with assaulting police with chemical spray

A Capitol rioter who allegedly assaulted police with chemical spray while wearing a Trump-themed cowboy hat has been arrested.

Markus Maly, 47, of Fincastle, Virginia, wore a “white cowboy style hat with the words ‘TRUMP 2020’ printed on the front and what appears to be ‘TEAM TRUMP’ printed on the back, with an American flag pattern printed on the underside," according to a criminal complaint.

He “carried a black canister that was consistent with what is commonly known as ‘bear spray’ or pepper spray," the complaint states. Maly is accused of deploying the pepper spray toward a line of Metropolitan police officers who were working to secure the area of the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol Building.

"He additionally assisted a second person who has been charged with spraying law enforcement –identified as Jeffrey Scott Brown, 55, of Santa Ana, California – by handing him a can of spray," the complaint states.

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Maly, who was branded by online sleuths as #JohnSprayne, was among the many Capitol rioters who boasted about their participation in the riot on social media.

During the insurrection, Maly told his girlfriend on Facebook, “We took the fuckin capital (SIC)," adding that it was "so fun."

The following day, he wrote: “There were lots of pissed off patriots there and we wanted our voices to be heard. I myself one [sic] of them. We were there to support President Trump and the voting process. A voting process that was hijacked and stolen from us.”

In a private message to an unidentified contact, Maly reported that he had stolen a police riot shield, but that an officer confiscated it from him while he was on his way back to his bus.

“Should have stood your ground with it,” the contact replied.

Maly then wrote: “I stood my ground and went back for seconds and thirds even."

Maly also posted photos of himself at the Capitol. Video shows him holding the riot shield and deploying the chemical spray, the complaint states.

Maly is charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and related offenses, according to a Department of Justice news release.

Maly was arrested Wednesday morning in Fincastle before making his initial appearance in court.

"After hearing evidence that Maly has been convicted at least twice of assaulting a police officer in Florida, Magistrate Judge Robert Ballou ordered that he be held without bond," the Roanoke Times reports.