Tontitown man pleads guilty to Capitol riot charges

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KNWA/KFTA) — A Tontitown man connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has changed his plea.

David Camden, 45, of Tontitown, pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers under U.S. law during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to a news release from the United States Attorney Office.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan scheduled sentencing for Jan. 10, 2025.

Camden allegedly “forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered” with law enforcement officers as they performed their duties, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli Ross said in court documents.

Camden traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the former president’s “Stop the Steal” rally and protest the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Following the rally, he entered restricted areas of the Capitol grounds, climbing a media tower and waving a flag.

Around 1:20 p.m., Camden confronted a bike rack barricade separating police officers from rioters, yelling at officers and forcefully pushing the barricade into a line of U.S. Capitol Police Officers, according to the release. In response, officers used a chemical irritant to repel Camden’s aggression.

Later, at approximately 2:11 p.m., Camden deployed a fire extinguisher toward a police line attempting to control the rioters. The FBI arrested him on July 1, 2024, in Arkansas.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the DOJ’s National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with help from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas.

The ongoing investigation is led by the FBI’s Little Rock and Washington Field Offices.

Since January 6, 2021, over 1,504 individuals have been charged across nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol breach, according to the release.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

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