WASHINGTON — A South Carolina man who previously served a felony sentence for his role in the 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding police on Jan. 6.
Tyler Bradley Dykes was arrested last July on multiple charges after a tipster reported he’d spoken about “beating up police officers” at the U.S. Capitol. He was indicted a month later on 10 counts, including robbery, civil disorder and two counts of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.
On Friday, Dykes pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding police. . As part of the plea, Dykes admitted he “forcibly assaulted an officer of the United States Capitol Police Department” and "forcibly resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered” with a DC Police officer. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining counts as well as the weapon enhancements. He was scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell on July 19.
According to a statement of facts Dykes signed as part of his guilty plea, on Jan. 6 he joined a part of the mob that was attempting to force its way past police at the East Rotunda doors. While there, Dykes ripped a riot shield out of the hands of an officer and used it to push other rioters ahead of him into the police line. The group eventually succeeded in breaking the doors and Dykes entered the Capitol still holding the shield and chanting, “Treason, treason, treason!”
Once inside the Capitol, Dykes admitted he again used the shield to try to push his way past another police line set up in a second-floor hallway near the Small Senate Rotunda – forcing officers to retreat further back into the building.
Prior to his arrest on Jan. 6 charges, Dykes was arrested in a separate case in Virginia for taking part in the white supremacist 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Dykes was charged with one felony count of burning an object with the intent to intimidate for joining a crowd of far-right protesters that marched with tiki torches while chanting white supremacist slogans like “Blood and soil” and “You will not replace us.” The rally was organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from a public park.
Dykes was denied bond in connection with the Charlottesville case and pleaded guilty last May. He was sentenced to five years in prison with all but six months suspended.
In the 39 months since the Capitol riot, more than 1,380 people have been charged, including nearly 500 charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding police. Nearly 800 people have pleaded guilty to charges ranging from disorderly conduct to seditious conspiracy.