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Former Wheeling Resident Indicted on New Charge in Connection With Capitol Insurrection

Capitol police officers in riot gear push back demonstrators who try to break a door of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON, Pa. — A farmer and woodworker from Bentleyville who was allegedly seen on video rummaging through documents on the Senate floor during the Jan. 6 insurrection is now accused of assaulting a police officer amid the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Dale “DJ” Shalvey on 11 counts Monday in which it found new evidence that he made “physical contact” with an unidentified officer and stole a letter from U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney meant for former vice president Mike Pence, according to court documents.

Shalvey, 36, was originally charged Feb. 12 in connection with the insurrection and the complaint against him was unsealed a month later. Shalvey surrendered himself to authorities in Washington, D.C., after the charges were made public, and he has been free on bond since that time. Shalvey has since moved from Washington County to North Carolina, a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman said Thursday.

During a March 9 interview with federal investigators, Shalvey denied being “part of any violent act” during the insurrection by a mob of former president Donald Trump’s supporters trying to overturn the election, according to the indictment. But investigators said they have evidence that Shalvey “assaulted an officer” during the attack, although the indictment did not identify what he did or who was assaulted.

Shalvey was seen wearing tactical equipment, including a green helmet, while he was captured on a New Yorker Magazine video rifling through paperwork on U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s desk just moments after the senators were evacuated from the floor. Cruz, R-Texas, has perpetuated falsehoods that the presidential election was stolen from Trump, which was cited as one of the reasons why rioters breached the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results.

The indictment also indicates Shalvey took a letter from Romney, R-Utah, that was meant for Pence, who was presiding over the Senate as vice president. The contents of Romney’s letter were not released in the indictment.

Shalvey, a West Liberty University graduate who was raised in Wheeling, was living in Bentleyville at the time of the insurrection. He managed Redemption Farms on land leased in Centerville, and was also a skilled woodworker, according to his professional website.

The indictment charges him with civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; theft of personal property within maritime and territorial jurisdiction; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building; and two counts of false statements.

Shalvey’s attorney, Dani Jahn, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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