(WXYZ) — A Shelby Township man has been the third person arrested from Michigan in connection to the riots at the U.S. Capitol last month.
Related: Wixom man at Capitol riot hit cops 10 times with hockey stick, prosecutors say
According to a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court in Detroit, 56-year-old James Allen Mels was arrested on Thursday morning on a federal warrant. He's expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday afternoon.
Related: Michigan man in UP charged in investigation of US Capitol riot
Mels was charged with one count of Knowingly entertaining or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds.
Michael Foy, a former Marine from Wixom, was also arrested and charged for allegedly hitting a police officer at least 10 times with a hockey stick during the riots. He was arrested in January due to publicly shared video, photos and a Facebook page belonging to his father.
Foy “swung and appears to have struck officers with his hockey stick no fewer than 10 times,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon said in a court filing Sunday.
“After ten swings, Foy fell back into the crowd — but he was far from finished," Moon said. "He stayed near the doors to the Capitol building. A few minutes later, Foy appears to have rallied his fellow rioters, again taking a leadership role in the chaos.”
"Images and video taken at the Capitol show Foy attacking officers guarding the doors. The scene is chaotic, graphic, and brutal. Rioters hurled projectiles at the officers and physically assaulted them, often using weapons like poles, bottles, and in Foy’s case, a hockey stick. Several officers were dragged into the crowd, stripped of their protective gear, and beaten. Other rioters used crowbars and other tools to knock the windows out of the Capitol so rioters could enter. At one point, before the worst of the melee began, Foy threw what appears to be a sharpened pole at the officers," attorneys argued in the filing.
Karl Dresch of Calumet was the first Michigander charged and he was ordered to be held without bond.
