A husband and wife from rural Montague County are the latest North Texans to be arrested by the FBI and accused of assaulting officers during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6.
Mark and Jalise Middleton, of Forestburg, were arrested Wednesday, the FBI said.
A federal criminal complaint includes images from two body cameras worn by police officers who were guarding the U.S. Capitol. The photos show the couple assaulting the officers with their hands, according to the complaint.
“Get back,” one of the officers said, according to the complaint.
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“F*** you,” Mark Middleton replied as he pushed back against a barricade near the West Front of the Capitol, according to the FBI.
Other body camera footage shows Jalise Middleton repeatedly grabbing and striking a police officer over the barricade with her hand, the FBI said.
The Middletons were both wearing Trump beanie caps, according to the complaint.
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They both continued to grapple with and strike the two officers as various flags were “jabbed toward the officers’ faces,” the complaint said.
According to the FBI, Mark Middleton posted a message on his Facebook page.
“We are on the front lines. We helped push down the barriers,” he wrote, according to the criminal complaint. “Jalise and I got pepper-sprayed, clubbed, and tear-gassed. We had to retreat, but more patriots pushed forward, and they’re taking back our house … No more fooling around! … Make America great again!”
The FBI said Jalise Middleton also posted comments on her Facebook page.
“We fought the cops to get in the Capital (sic) and got pepper-sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!” she wrote, according to the complaint.
The Facebook comments have since been deleted.
According to her LinkedIn page, Jalise Middleton, 50, is a billing manager for Angels Care Home Health in Gainesville and graduated from Arlington High School. She moderated a Parkinson’s support group, according to the Gainesville Register.
Mark Middleton, 51, a volunteer firefighter and pilot, worked at Nortex Communications, an internet service provider in Muenster, and has a master’s degree in theology from Liberty University, according to his LinkedIn.
A spokesman for Nortex Communications said Mark Middleton started at the company in October selling broadband services and was no longer employed as of Thursday.
A representative from Angels Care Home Health did not return a call seeking comment.
The Middletons are the 21st and 22nd alleged U.S. Capitol rioters to be arrested by the Dallas office of the FBI, which covers the northern half of Texas.
