SEATTLE (AP) - A Seattle man who is accused of using bear spray on two photojournalists and threatening a newspaper reporter during the Jan. 6 protests started by former President Donald Trump’s supporters at the Washington state Capitol has been charged.
Damon Huseman was charged Jan. 11 with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of felony harassment. He is accused of spraying the faces of a freelance photographer and a video journalist with bear spray and incapacitating the men for hours, according to the charging documents.
Huseman is also accused in the charging documents of lunging at a reporter in an attempt to grab her cellphone and threatening her and other journalists, at one point saying, “We’re going to shoot you (expletive) dead in the next year.”
Huseman was armed with an assault-style rifle, a handgun and a knife, the Seattle Times reported. His defense attorney, Danielle Walker, said the 26-year-old had the right to be armed and noted that he that he was not accused of pointing or firing his weapons at anyone. Walker entered Huseman’s not guilty pleas on all three of his charges.
Huseman’s defense attorney also said that her client had no criminal history and has lived in the Seattle area for about eight years.
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