Devlyn ThompsonLast Updated: January 5, 2022

According to court documents, Devlyn Thompson, 28, of Seattle, Washington, was among a crowd of individuals on the lower west terrace who were pushing against and assaulting MPD and U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers in the tunnel leading into the U.S. Capitol.

Thompson admitted that he and others in the tunnel yelled obscenities at police and encouraged the continued assault. According to his plea, Thompson was part of a group that threw objects and projectiles at the officers, including flag poles, and grabbed and stole the officers’ riot shields to prevent them from defending themselves against the violence. Thompson personally observed police order rioters to stop, physically push the crowd back and deploy pepper spray in an effort to try to stop the ongoing assault. Later, Thompson picked up a metal baton from the floor of the tunnel and swung it overhead and downward against the police line in an apparent effort to knock a can of pepper spray from an officer’s hand and stop the officer from pepper-spraying the rioters. After more pepper spray was deployed by the rioters and the officers, Thompson retreated from the archway area.