Two Tennessee, including accused Jan. 6 rioter, charged with plotting attack on FBI
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – On Friday, a criminal complaint was unsealed, charging Edward Kelley, 33, of Maryville, Tennessee, and Austin Carter, 26, of Knoxville, Tennessee, with conspiracy, retaliating against a federal official, interstate communication of a threat, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence.
Kelley and Carter made their initial appearance in federal court on Friday in Knoxville before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill E. McCook. Both defendants have been detained. Carter has a detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 21.
According to court documents, Kelley, who is facing charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia related to his assault on a law enforcement officer during the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, obtained a list of law enforcement personnel who participated in that criminal investigation.
Prosecutors say that conversations with a cooperating witness alleged that Kelley and Carter discussed collecting information and planned to kill the individual law enforcement personnel on the list.
The plans allegedly included an attack on the FBI’s Knoxville, Tennessee Field Office.
“Federal law enforcement agents put their lives on the line every day to protect the public,” said U.S. Attorney Francis Hamilton III. “Planning and threatening violence against them is among the most serious of crimes. It is absolutely unacceptable and will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted.”
Kelley’s arrest is in addition to charges related to his alleged assault on a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
He has been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, and destruction of government property related to his alleged actions on Jan. 6.
