Federal authorities arrested an Alabama man Friday in Alaska on charges he participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
It’s unclear why Christian Matthew Manley, 26, was in Alaska at the time of his arrest. Manley faces federal charges from the District of Columbia for allegedly assaulting officers, causing civil disorder and entering and engaging in violence in a restricted building, among others.
A tipster in July led investigators to Manley, according to an Alabama-based FBI agent’s statement in the charges against him.
The charges say agents showed the unnamed person photos of Manley at the Capitol riot — which the FBI had previously posted in its efforts to find and prosecute such rioters — and the person said Manley had in fact shown the person at least one of the same photos himself.
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The charges include other photos said to be Manley, showing the bearded man wearing what looks like a Kevlar vest, a military-style backpack with pouches on the belt and, in one photo, holding a bottle of pepper spray above his head.
Agents found Manley’s Alabama Department of Labor records, as well as his cell phone records, which showed he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the charges.
Screenshots from security cameras inside an archway in the Capitol building’s lower west terrace, included in the charges, show Manley spraying two bottles of pepper spray at officers, brandishing a pole and helping other rioters push against officers and on a door.
Additional information was not immediately available on Monday about the case or why Manley was in Alaska. The FBI Alaska Field Office did not respond to questions and a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska said she did not have additional information outside of what’s in the charges. Manley’s arrest warrant lists his last known address as Elkmont, Alabama.
Manley’s first court appearance on the charges is set for Tuesday in Anchorage.
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Casey here.
