Background: Jay Thaxton on Jan. 6, 2021, allegedly pushing down a barricade at the U.S. Capitol. Inset: Thaxton being arrested on Jan. 6. (Photos courtesy U.S. Justice Department.)
A North Carolina man and alleged chapter leader of the Proud Boys who federal prosecutors say helped rioters convicted of seditious conspiracy knock down barriers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been arrested, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Jay Robert Thaxton, 49, of Concord, North Carolina, was charged with obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and obstructing or impeding passage in a Capitol building.
In a statement of facts unwinding the details of his alleged activity on Jan. 6, prosecutors say they started an investigation into Thaxton early in 2021 and interviewed him in May of that year at his home. During that interview, an investigating FBI agent said Thaxton admitted to being in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and that he had been arrested that same evening for violating the curfew order that went into effect as the mob overran the Capitol.
At the time, he said he came to the Capitol alone.
Widespread public footage of the attack on the Capitol reviewed by Jan. 6 sleuths online helped the department zero in on Thaxton’s identity. Sleuths were able to track him across video and other footage, placing him by his face covering — black fabric featuring green decorations resembling human bones — as well as his bright red cap, glasses and a sizable flashlight he carried on his hip.
It was that same flashlight that investigators said they recognized in footage shot near the Washington Monument where he and other Proud Boys had gathered before descending on the Capitol.
Though Thaxton had his face partially covered in footage of him allegedly ripping up and knocking down barriers, during the meeting at the Washington Monument, prosecutors said he temporarily dropped the covering making it even easier for them to ID him.
Notably, Thaxton was deposed by the Jan. 6 committee in March 2021 and he “confirmed both his past and continued membership in the Proud Boys, including serving at one point as the vice president of his North Carolina chapter.”
Justice Department provided photo shows Jay Thaxton, circled in yellow, attempting to push down a bike rack barrier on Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol.
Thaxton marched with currently-imprisoned convicted seditious conspirators Ethan Nordean and Joe Biggs from the monument to the Capitol and then “made his way to the front ranks of rioters” at the Capitol’s lower west plaza, prosecutors say.
Circled in yellow, Jay Thaxton is seen bending down as he allegedly rocks a fence out of its anchor in the concrete. Standing just to his right wearing dark sunglasses and a backward cap is Proud Boys member, Ethan Nordean, who has been convicted of seditious conspiracy; in the flannel jacket and black beanie to Nordean’s right is Joseph Biggs, another Proud Boys member also convicted of seditious conspiracy (photos courtesy U.S. Justice Department).
Only a line of police and a long black metal fence anchored to the concrete stood in Thaxton’s way, the FBI said in its statement of facts, and as the number of people in the crowd swelled behind Thaxton and his cohorts, police had to retreat. Other leaders of the Proud Boys also yanked on the fence in a bid to tear it down.
Footage from the day according to the FBI shows Thaxton rocking the fence back and forth roughly. Eventually breaking past police lines, Thaxton is then accused of joining rioters to overwhelm police before grabbing hold of a bike rack barrier that one officer clung too. He pulled that back and forth too and all of this alleged activity contributed to the ultimate breach of the west plaza.
A Justice Department provided photo shows the large black metal fencing that was anchored into the ground moments after Jay Thaxton is accused of ripping it out, contributing to a breach of police lines.
An attorney for Thaxton did not immediately respond to a request for comment and it is unclear what date he is due in court next.
When Thaxton was deposed by the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol, he told them he had heard the name “Ethan Nordean” before but that he wouldn’t recognize him from photos. Photos from the lower west plaza show as well as near the Washington Monument and on the march to the Capitol show Thaxton and Nordean in close proximity multiple times, however. Thaxton did tell congressional investigators that he knew of Joe Biggs, however, who at the time had amassed a large right-wing following thanks to Biggs’ own proximity to Alex Jones.
But when congressional investigators asked Thaxton if he was “with the Proud Boys” on Jan. 6, Thaxton hedged.
Transcript records show he told the Jan. 6 committee he was “behind that group.”
“I wasn’t marching with anybody,” Thaxton said.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
