Maryland election official resigns after arrest following January 6 attack

A Maryland election commission official resigned this week after being arrested on federal charges related to his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, authorities said.

The officer, Carlos Ayala, 52, of Salisbury, Maryland, scaled police barricades during the riot and stabbed an officer with a flag he was carrying, federal prosecutors said. He was charged with civil disorder, a misdemeanor, in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Ayala is also charged with related offenses by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement on Tuesday.

The FBI. in Maryland arrested Mr. Ayala Tuesday, and he made his first court appearance that day. He was released under the supervision of the provisional services.

James. M. Trusty, a lawyer for Mr. Ayala, declined to comment Thursday on the arrest and charges.

Mr. Ayala has resigned from the Maryland State Board of Elections, according to a statement from Michael Summers, the board’s chairman.

“The board is committed to maintaining the security and integrity of our elections in Maryland in a nonpartisan manner,” he said.

According to a 13-page criminal complaint, witnesses identified Mr. Ayala among a group of rioters who illegally gathered on Jan. 6, 2021, on a restricted Capitol grounds near the scaffolding erected for the upcoming inauguration.

The complaint and plaintiff’s affidavit stated that Mr. Ayala was wearing a hooded sweatshirt adorned with an American flag that “fitted tightly around his head.”

Mr. Ayala, who also wore a mask, carried a distinctive black-and-white flag, attached to a PVC pipe flagpole, emblazoned with the words “We the People” and “DEFEND.”

Video footage from about 2:15 p.m. that afternoon showed Mr. Ayala “climbing police barriers,” which were pushed aside by rioters so they could gain access to the Upper West Terrace outside the building, the complaint said. The document showed an image of Mr. Ayala running through the crowd toward the Capitol after the police line was broken.

Another image in the court documents showed Mr. Ayala and others climbing the police barricade to gain access to Capitol’s Upper West Terrace.

Closed-circuit television footage from inside the U.S. Capitol, near the Senate wing door, showed Mr. Ayala waving his black flag in one of the windows next to the Senate wing door, prosecutors said.

A U.S. Capitol Police officer then motioned for Mr. Ayala to move away from the window, the complaint said.

Footage showed a rioter thrusting a flag and flagpole at a police officer, who then grabbed both objects to prevent the rioter from knocking over the officer’s shield or injuring other officers.

Court documents show that the flag in the video matched the description of Mr. Ayala’s flag, which he was holding moments earlier.

Prosecutors said body camera footage, from about 2:51 p.m., showed Mr. Ayala walking in front of police officers who had gathered on Upper West Terrace to clear rioters from the area.

As Mr. Ayala walked along the police line, he gestured to the officers and said, “Join us!”

As of January 6, 2021, more than 1,265 people have been charged in nearly all fifty states with crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. They include more than 440 people charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement, a misdemeanor, federal prosecutors said.

On the recommendation of the Maryland Senate, Gov. Wes Moore last year appointed Mr. Ayala and four others to the state Board of Elections for four-year terms. according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Mr. Ayala was previously listed as an employee of Perdue Farms in Salisbury, Maryland, according to the Maryland CBS affiliate station WBOC.