A Florida Proud Boys member is accused of pepper spraying a police officer during the Capitol riot, and then threatening an FBI agent who was investigating his role in the January 6 attack.
Barry Bennett Ramey, 38, is also accused in Department of Justice documents of being a member of the South Florida branch of the Proud Boys.
Ramey was taken into custody on April 21 in Plantation, Florida – exactly one year after the FBI’s Washington field office first put out his photo seeking information in relation to the riot.
According the criminal affidavit in the case, Ramey is accused of spraying a substance ‘consistent with pepper spray’ in the direction of an officer at a stairway between the Lower West and Upper West terraces of the Capitol at 1:48 p.m. on January 6.
After spraying one officer, Ramey then sprayed the same substance at another officer.
‘Both officers reported that the spray caused them to become disoriented and have their vision impaired,’ the Department of Justice said in a press release.
During the the investigation, the FBI agent leading the case gave his business card to an acquaintance of Ramey’s. The agent testified in documents that he received a phone call from Ramey.
In the call, Ramey said, ‘Is this Mr. Nougaret? And you still live at [your affiant’s home address].’ The affiant is the special agent leading in the investigation.
The documents state that a phone linked to Ramey was used in the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6.
In addition, the FBI investigation found that Ramey left a review on Google for the Hilton Arlington hotel in January 2021. The hotel is located seven miles from the U.S. Capitol.
Subsequently, the agent investigating Ramey received a text message that included the agent’s former license place number. When the agent replied asking who was sending the message, the response read, ‘Check that VIN number. ;)’
The phone number in the text exchange belonged to a burner phone company.
Ramey’s name appeared on a master list of Proud Boys members in southern Florida, documents state. He joins a list current and former members who are charged with involvement in the events of January 6. The group’s former leader, Enrique Tarrio, 38, a resident of southern Florida, is facing charges relating to the organization of the January 6 riot. If found guilty on
Tarrio was already facing charges when the Capitol riot took place after he was arrested on January 4 on weapons charges. After being sentenced to six months in that case, Tarrio was rearrested in March 2022 due to his alleged part in the riot.
With regard to January 6, Tarrio is accused of conspiring to ‘corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, the certification of the Electoral College vote.’ Tarrio is accused of being a member of a special chapter in the Proud Boys known as the Ministry for Self Defense.
Around 24 members of the Proud Boys have been indicted for their alleged roles in the Capitol riot. The group has described themselves as ‘Western Chauvinists’ while in Canada they have been classified as a ‘terrorist entity.’
Another group with ties to the riot, the Oath Keepers, have seen dozens of members of their organization arrested in relation to the investigation. The Oath Keepers are described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as ‘one of the largest far-right antigovernment groups in the U.S. today.’
One member of that group, Joshua James, is accused of providing security to Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone on January 6, 2021. In January 2022, 11 members of the Oath Keepers were indicted for seditious conspiracy.