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Feds arrest Ore. man, accused of assaulting officer at U.S. Capitol

62-year-old is 3rd from state arrested connected to Jan. 6

By Maxine Bernstein, oregonlive.com
Published: April 26, 2021, 8:26pm

Federal agents on Sunday arrested a 62-year-old Hillsboro, Ore., man in connection with the Jan. 6 takeover of the U.S. Capitol.

Reed Knox Christensen is accused of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer during the Capitol siege, federal prosecutor Paul Maloney told a magistrate judge.

An FBI video on the U.S. Department of Justice website shows him pushing past a barrier in front of the Capitol and grappling with several officers, according to a federal complaint.

Christensen made his first appearance Monday in federal court in Portland, becoming the third person arrested in Oregon tied by federal prosecutors to the insurrection in Washington, D.C. Another man was arrested in Vancouver last month.

The FBI arrested him on a federal warrant about 2:20 p.m. Sunday at Southwest 331st Avenue and Tualatin Valley Highway and executed a search warrant at his home, according to jail records and court testimony.

“I was picked up in my suit on my way to church,” Christensen told U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You.

Maloney asked that guns found at Christensen’s home be removed before any release from custody pending trial. Maloney said he’s concerned that Christensen is anti-government “and given the nature of the charges here, should law enforcement have to go onto the property, there should not be any weapons and firearms on the property in order to do that safely, your Honor.”

Christensen also is accused of engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building and entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority, among other charges.

“I’m a little surprised that I’m losing my critter weapons … when I haven’t been convicted of anything,” Christensen told the judge.

According to court documents, Christensen was on the lower west terrace of the Capitol grounds where Capitol Police were protecting the building from rioters. Surveillance and body-worn camera footage shows Christensen striking and pushing officers and initiating the aggressive removal of metal bike rack barriers, according to federal authorities.

About 2:20 p.m., Christensen tried to breach the barrier when a Metropolitan Police Department officer sprayed him with a chemical irritant. Despite the spray to his face, Christensen charged through the perimeter, away from officers and struck an officer with his fists, according to the criminal complaint.

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