WASHINGTON — A Loudon man pleaded guilty on Feb. 1 to a felony charge after he "violently pushed" an officer's riot shield multiple times during the Jan. 6 Insurrection.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, Devin McNulty, 28, pleaded guilty to a count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. Sentencing is set for June 28, 2024. Originally, he also faced charges for an act of physical violence in a Capitol Building, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building as well as other charges.
The complaint said in April 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation got information about an assault on an officer identifying McNulty. The FBI said it compared images from the Jan. 6 Insurrection with an advertisement for a mixed-martial arts fight at the Cotton Eyed Joe, as well as other images matching McNulty's identity.
The FBI said agents interviewed a person who had personal knowledge of McNulty and identified him in a series of four images taken at the Jan. 6 Insurrection. The FBI said he was seen in several videos and images at the Capitol wearing khakis, a black jacket with a hood, a black backpack with a tan bottom, sunglasses, a red hat and brown boots.
"At times, McNulty's long, curly brown hair is seen under the jacket hood and/or hat," the complaint said.
He is first seen in a video near the West Front of the Capitol building, near a group of Metropolitan Police officers, the FBI said. Later in the same video, he is seen climbing a wall to the Northwest Terrace, according to the complaint.
He is later seen in another video approaching the North Door of the Capitol building with his jacket hood down and sunglasses on. The complaint said he appeared to have been affected by a "chemical irritant," which caused him to turn around towards the crowd. He then raises and pumps his to the crowd.
He is seen in another video entering the North Door but stopping inside the vestibule while an alarm sounds and music plays from the crowd. In that video, police officers moved in front of the outer North Door and McNulty is seen speaking to officers in the doorway, according to the complaint.
"Beginning at approximately 1:00 in the video, an officer, circled in blue in Figure 14, can be heard saying: 'Get back, everyone get back.' When the crowd demands that the officer let them into the Capitol building, the same officer responds, 'I can’t do that,'" the complaint said.
In another video, McNulty is seen pushing against a police officer's shield, according to the complaint outside the Capitol building. The officer said McNulty tried to get control of his shield and he had to "exert increasingly more effort in order to counter McNulty's force."
"McNulty stood in front of the line of officers and violently pushed against one officer’s riot shield multiple times over the course of several seconds. The officer, a member of the Prince George’s County Police Department, was interviewed about the incident after January 6. The officer claimed to distinctly remember the interaction with McNulty as aggressive and persistent," a release said about McNulty pleading guilty.
The FBI said as part of the investigation, they also identified a phone number for McNulty and said calls from it originated on Jan. 5 from Knoxville. The following morning, calls came from Harrisonburg, Virginia, and then from Washington D.C.
Snap Inc. also shared messages from McNulty's account with the company.
"On the morning of January 6, 2021, McNulty received four screenshots from another individual about Washington, DC laws regarding 'self-defense weapons,'" the complaint said.
A search of a Google account belonging to McNulty also revealed searches for flights to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, as well as searches for "charges against rioters" as well as searches for "jake angeli." Angeli was present at the Insurrection and was arrested on Jan. 9, 2021, according to the complaint.
McNulty was arrested in Atlanta on June 13, 2023.
