Kentucky man, living in Fayette County, arrested as part of Capitol attack

A Kentucky man who was living in Uniontown was arrested Thursday and accused of spraying officers with mace during the attack on the Capitol last month.

Peter Schwartz, 47, is charged with four counts, including forcible assault on an officer; two counts of knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

According to the criminal complaint, Schwartz was identified by several people who contacted the FBI.

Video taken and posted on YouTube from 1:45 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 6 showed a group of rioters near a large group of U.S. Capitol police and D.C. Metropolitan police, the complaint said.

It showed the rioters “chanting, throwing things, striking officers, and spraying substances such as bear spray and mace at the group of officers.”

Schwartz was identified by his clothing, including a distinctive yellow-and-blue checked shirt or jacket, the complaint said.

At the 48 minutes and 24 seconds into the video, the filming continued, Schwartz is identified with his arm extended and spraying an orange substance from a black canister directly at officers.

“The orange substance lands near the face of an unidentified officer, causing him to turn his face away and step backwards,” the complaint said, and the officer appears to try to avoid inhaling it.

Schwartz can be seen about 30 minutes later in the video carrying a wooden baton in a large crowd of rioters near the tunnel arch, the complaint continued.

Other video obtained from the Capitol attack showed Schwartz with a large red canister spraying law enforcement officers with what appeared to be mace, the FBI said.

According to the complaint, the agency’s National Threat Operations Center got a tip identifying Schwartz on Jan. 11. The person said that Schwartz, a traveling welder, is a felon and was released from prison because of covid-19.

He was supposed to be at a rehabilitation facility in Owensboro, Kentucky, the tipster said.

On Schwartz’s public Facebook page, he wrote, “’God created all mankind. Samuel Colt made them equal,’” the complaint said.

Colt invented the revolver, the complaint said.

From a post on Jan. 7, Schwartz also wrote, “All the violence from the left was terrorism. What happened yesterday was the opening of a war. I was there and whether people will acknowledge it or not we are now at war. It would be wise to be ready!”

In another post from the same day, he wrote, “‘I’ll tell you this… I’m shocked reading the reports of what happened yesterday. Very different than what I saw up close and personal. (We’re still spitting up gas and mace today.)’”

Investigators contacted the tipster on Jan. 24, who explained he was friends with Schwartz and last saw him six months ago.

Schwartz has previous convictions for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and terroristic threats, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.