WASHINGTON — A Wisconsin man gushed about how much he enjoyed assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and talked about plans to return with homemade pepper balls, according to new charges unsealed Thursday.
Riley D. Kasper, 23, of Pulaski, Wisconsin, was arrested Wednesday on multiple felony charges in connection to the Capitol riot, including civil disorder and assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.
According to charging documents, Kasper assaulted police with a pepper spray canister and was part of the mob that forced its way through a police barricade. Investigators obtained Facebook messages in which Kasper allegedly brags repeatedly about his actions on Jan. 6:
- “I pepper sprayed 3 cops so bad they got undressed and went home… I basically organized my own little militia and we f***ing took over Congress.”
- “I mean, the rest of the crowd gave support, but as you see in the video it was my group that busted the first gate and kept chasing the cops down and pushing them back into the capital.”
- “But there is definitely something satisfying about pepper spraying cops in riot gear and watching them run from you like a b***…”
Investigators say Kasper also enthused about how the riot was “like the most real version of paintball ever” and wrote that he wanted to make his own pepper balls to use on police or even use .68-caliber riot balls, called “jawbreakers,” against them.
“We’re gonna be the hero’s [sic] of the battle bro,” Kasper wrote in another message. “We’re gonna bring our paintball guns with f***ing pepper balls, a can of bear spray each, a baton, taser and my extension ladder… I’m on a war path with those capital police now.”
Kasper was identified by a tipster who knew Kasper in high school and a family member, who identified him from images recorded at the Capitol. Investigators were also able to compare images of Kasper at the Capitol with booking photos from arrests in 2015 and 2019.
Kasper made an initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Wisconsin on Thursday.
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