A Maryland man is accused of throwing a flagpole and a smoke grenade at police and assaulting an Associated Press photographer during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents released Tuesday.
Rodney Milstreed allegedly threw the flagpole bearing a navy flag “javelin-like” toward a group of Capitol police officers blocking the stairs leading up to the Capitol, apparently hitting one officer, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Colorado. Later, after an officer picked up a smoke grenade that had been spreading smoke near police and lobbed it toward protesters, Milstreed allegedly picked it up and threw it back toward police, the document said.
