Utah gun store owner arrested for assaulting officers during Jan. 6 Capitol riot

A Utah man who texted on Parler before the January 6 Capitol riot that he was “driving to DC to smack a couple of politicians around,” was charged Wednesday by the feds with assaulting police officers there.

Justin Dee Adams, 48, of West Jordan, Utah, is charged with felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, as well as related misdemeanor offenses.

Adams, identified by the FBI as the owner of JD Guns and Gear, a West Jordan gun store, was accused of having “charged at the police line, physically attacking one or more officers. After he was pushed back again, he continued to yell and gesture aggressively at officers, while other rioters attempted to hold him back.

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“Then, several minutes later, Adams grabbed a metal bicycle rack that officers were using to prevent the mob from making further advances. He threw a plastic bottle at one officer who attempted to stop him from removing the bike rack. Adams and another rioter pulled the bike rack from the officers and dragged it into the crowd.”

Adams made his initial appearance Wednesday in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Jared C. Bennett, federal court records show, KSL.com reported. Adams was ordered to be detained and remanded to the U.S. Marshals Service pending his detention hearing set for Oct. 28.

You can read the FBI criminal complaint here.