Matthew Ryan Miller seen with a bottle of water, left, and spraying the contents of a fire extinguisher at officers guarding the Lower West Terrace tunnel on Jan. 6: FBI
Staff Report –
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Maryland man who was among the youngest charged with participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Tuesday to nearly three years in prison.
Matthew Ryan Miller, 23, of Cooksville, Maryland, was sentenced in the District of Columbia for assaulting law enforcement officers and obstructing an official proceeding during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions helped disrupt a joint session of Congress convened to certify the electoral votes in the presidential election of 2020.
According to court documents, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, as a mob gathered on the West side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Miller threw a full beer can in the direction of the Capitol building and police protecting it. At the time, he was draped in a Confederate flag.
Miller then used a section of temporary barriers as a ladder to scale the walls of the west side of the plaza. He also assisted other rioters in scaling the walls and other architectural obstacles.
Miller and others then moved to the Lower West Terrace and close to the tunnel area leading into the building. Miller waved his hand, and said multiple times, “Come on,” as the mob chanted “Heave! Ho!” and rocked back and forth in pushing towards the tunnel entrance that Capitol Police officers were attempting to secure.
Multiple times, Miller put up his fingers and yelled, “one, two, three, push!” From this position, he also threw batteries towards the Lower West Terrace tunnel, where police were guarding the entrance to the Capitol building. Then, at about 4:55 p.m., and at his closest position to the tunnel, Miller used a fire extinguisher to spray directly into the tunnel onto police officers; several officers were impacted by this assault.
Miller was arrested on Jan. 25, 2021, in Cooksville, Maryland. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 9, 2022, to obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. Following his prison term, Miller will be placed on 24 months of supervised release. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 16 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals 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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