WASHINGTON — A man who recently finished serving a felony sentence for his role in the 2017 white supremacist March in Charlottesville, Virginia, was arrested this week on new felony counts connected to the Capitol riot.
Federal investigators say Tyler Bradley Dykes, of South Carolina, joined a mob that forced its way through the Columbus Doors on the east side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In the process, they say, he assaulted police and disarmed an officer of their riot shield. Once inside investigators say Dykes can be seen in his tan baseball cap and grey neck gaiter parading through the building still holding the shield. He faces multiple felony counts of civil disorder, entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and assaulting, resisting or impeding police.
Dykes was identified as early as December 2021 by an anonymous tipster who said Dykes had spoken about “beating up police officers” at the Capitol on Jan. 6. According to the tipster, Dykes said he was still in the military at the time. Dykes served in the U.S. Marine Corps but was dismissed after he was named as a suspect in a string of vandalisms in Sumpter County, South Carolina, according to Virginia Public Media.
According to charging documents, Dykes was also identified in part thanks to his “unique eyebrows,” which were visible in images from Jan. 6 despite the cap and gaiter he wore.
An FBI task force officer assigned to investigate the tip wrote in an affidavit that they were already familiar with Dykes due to his role in the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. According to Virginia court records, Dykes was arrested in February on a felony count of burning an object with the intent to intimidate for joining a crowd of far-right protesters that marched with tiki torches while chanting white supremacist slogans like “Blood and soil” and “You will not replace us.” The rally was organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from a public park.
Dykes was denied bond in connection with the Charlottesville case and pleaded guilty in May. He was sentenced to five years in prison with all but six months suspended. According to an affidavit filed in federal court Monday, investigators believe Dykes may still have ties to extremist groups, including the “Southern Sons Active Club.”
A warrant for Dykes’ arrest in connection with Jan. 6 was signed Friday by a magistrate judge in D.C. and he was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on Monday. U.S. District Judge Robert S. Ballou ordered Dykes held without bond until a detention hearing set for Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke.