One is accused of assaulting a line of police officers with bear spray. Another was caught on video allegedly pushing an officer with a metal barricade. A third is accused of joining the Oath Keepers militia days before joining in the attack on the Capitol.

A year since the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, 15 people from North Carolina are facing federal charges. They’ve all been accused of trying to stop Congress from certifying the election for Joe Biden one year ago.  

Federal investigators have charged more than 700 people in what is widely considered the biggest criminal investigation in American history. Dozens of people have already pleaded guilty and some have received long sentences. A judge last month sentenced a Florida man to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assaulting an officer.

Stephen Baker

Garner, N.C.

Investigators say Baker live-streamed from inside the Capitol during the attack under the name Stephen Ignoramus. He was in the Capitol building for more than an hour, according to court filings.

Baker is charged with unlawful entry in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building. Baker was arrested on Feb. 1 and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is free on personal recognizance.

Aiden Bilyard

Cary, N.C.

Bilyard faces some of the most serious charges, including using a “deadly or dangerous weapon." The FBI says Bilyard sprayed a line of police officers with a can of “bear spray,” similar to mace.

According to the FBI, Bilyard used a baseball bat to break a window into the Capitol. Then he and a number of others crawled through the window and into the building, the FBI said.

In online circles who were trying to track down people caught on video in the Capitol riot, Bilyard became known as “#HarvardSweats” because of his distinctive Harvard sweatshirt, according to an FBI affidavit.

Bilyard is charged with eight counts, including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He was arrested on Nov. 22.

Lewis Cantwell

Sylva, N.C.

Cantwell faces six charges for entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and disrupting the proceedings.

He’s charged with civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a capitol building and grounds; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building. Cantwell was arrested on Feb. 18 and is free on personal recognizance.

Charles Donohoe

Kernersville, N.C.

Court filings say Donohoe is a member of the right-wing Proud Boys and accuse him of conspiring with other members of the group to stop the certification of the election on Jan. 6.

Donohoe is charged with three other men, all members of the Proud Boys, according to the indictment. Court records show he is being held until a trial scheduled for May. He was arrested March 17.

He's charged with conspiracy; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Edward George

Fayetteville, N.C.

George and another co-defendant are accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding police and stealing an American flag and flagpole from inside the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 attack, according to court records.

He is charged with nine counts, including civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and theft of government property, aiding and abetting.

George was arrested July 15. He is free on personal recognizance.

James Grant

Cary, N.C.

Grant faces charges of assaulting police during the attack on the Capitol. The FBI says video shows Grant and others picking up a metal barricade and shoving an officer.

Grant made his way inside the Capitol building, the FBI said. A search warrant for Grant’s phone found photos of him inside a Senate office, according to court filings.

Grant is charged with nine counts, including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury. He was originally arrested in October and then charged in a new indictment in December. His arraignment was scheduled for Jan. 3 but had to be postponed because of the weather.

Johnny Harris

Shelby, N.C.

Harris, carrying a flag and wearing an American flag shirt, was caught on video walking through the Capitol building, according to the FBI. Agents say he shared photos of himself on Facebook from inside the building. He admitted to being in the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, according to the Justice Department.

He is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on capitol grounds; engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct on the capitol buildings or grounds; parading, demonstrating or picketing in the capitol buildings.

He was arrested on March 18 and pleaded not guilty to all counts. He is free on personal recognizance.

Stephen Horn

Wake Forest, N.C.

A photograph shared by the New York Times Magazine shows Horn in the Capitol building, dressed in a black jacket and wearing a black helmet as he stands on top of a monument, according to the FBI. That photograph led people who knew Horn to identify him to the FBI.

In a Facebook post, Horn wrote, “I did not enter the capitol building as part of the protest, or for cheap thrills, but to accurately document and record a significant event which was taking place,” according to court filings.

Horn admitted to FBI agents that he was in the Capitol and was the man in the photo on top of the monument, according to an affidavit.

Horn is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.

He was arrested on April 9 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is free on personal recognizance.

James Little

Claremont, N.C.

Talking to federal agents, Little admitted to entering the Capitol building and spent his time inside walking around and “smiling and fist bumping other people who were also inside the Capitol,” according to an FBI affidavit.

The FBI said they tracked Little down after someone said he texted them from inside the Capitol during the attack.

He was arrested on March 24 and released on personal recognizance. He pleaded guilty to one charge of “Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building” and will be sentenced in February.

Anthony Scirica

Winston-Salem, N.C.

A Snapchat account linked to Scirica shared images from inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6, according to the FBI.

He was also seen in a report on Inside Edition walking through the Capitol during the attack, court records say.

Scirica was arrested on June 16 and has since pleaded guilty to one count. His sentencing is set for Jan. 20.

Grayson Sherrill

Cherryville, N.C.

An FBI wanted poster showed Sherrill inside the Capitol building wearing a red “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt and carrying some sort of stick or pole, according to federal court records.

Two family members recognized Sherrill and called the FBI, according to an affidavit.

Sherrill was originally arrested in March. New charges filed in December accuse him of assaulting a police officer with a metal pole.

Christopher Spencer

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Christopher Spencer and his wife, Virginia “Jenny” Spencer, are charged together with five counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a capitol building.

According to the FBI, Christopher Spencer streamed video live from inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack. The video shows him chanting “stop the steal” with the crowd in the Crypt, in the center of the Capitol building.

Christopher Spencer was arrested on Jan. 19 and pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Virginia Spencer

Pilot Mountain, N.C.

Virginia “Jenny” Spencer was arrested after her husband, Christopher Spencer. She admitted to investigators that she and her husband were inside the Capitol during the attack, according to an FBI affidavit.

The two are seen on cameras in the Capitol walking through the Statuary Hall. Christopher Spencer streamed video of their time in the Capitol on Facebook Live.

Agents arrested Virginia Spencer on Feb. 8. In September, she agreed to plead guilty to one court of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 7.

Laura Steele

Kernersville, N.C.

Steele is accused of being part of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia that wore military-style uniforms to the protest and attack on the Capitol building. She is charged with 16 others accused of being part of the militia.

According to the FBI, Steele applied to join the group in the days before Jan. 6. In her application for membership, she listed her past work as a police officer in North Carolina.

Steele is charged with conspiracy; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; tampering with documents or proceedings.

She pleaded not guilty to all counts and is free on personal recognizance. A jury trial is set for later this year.

Matthew Wood

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wood admitted to the FBI that he entered the Capitol building and went into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, according to court records.

He shared photos of himself on Facebook inside the Capitol and defended his actions, saying, “Our election was stolen. The system is against us. I stood up to our tyrannical government.”

One photo shows Wood standing in the Capitol Rotunda carrying a large Trump flag.

He faces several charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

He was arrested on March 5 and pleaded not guilty. He is free on personal recognizance.