Man Who Sprayed Police With Wasp Killer Pleads Guilty to Jan. 6 Charges
The New York Times
Peter Moloney, who owned funeral homes on Long Island, struck a photojournalist and another man and pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.
The former owner of several Long Island funeral homes who sprayed police officers with insecticide and struck a photographer during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the National Capitol pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal assault charges, prosecutors said.
The man, Peter G. Moloney, was among the first rioters to enter the area outside the Capitol after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally in support of President Donald J. Trump, prosecutors said. After arriving, Mr. Moloney aimed a spray can of Black Flag Wasp, Hornet & Yellow Jacket Killer at police officers’ hands, arms and heads, according to prosecutors.
Mr. Moloney, 60, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of assaulting, resisting and impeding police officers and one misdemeanor charge of assault by striking, prosecutors said.
He will pay restitution for damaging the Capitol grounds and for breaking the camera of someone whom he believed to be a journalist, prosecutors announced. Lawyers for Mr. Moloney declined to comment on their client’s plea.
Mr. Moloney traveled to the Capitol from his home in Bayport, N.Y., equipped with a bicycle helmet, safety goggles, hard-knuckle gloves and a face mask. In the federal complaint against Mr. Moloney, an F.B.I. agent said that Mr. Moloney put on his helmet and goggles as he arrived on the Capitol grounds, which the agent said showed that he was “prepared for violence.”
The complaint features nearly 30 images of Mr. Moloney near the Capitol, facing off with police officers in some and holding his cellphone aloft in others. In two of the photos, captured by police officers’ body-worn cameras, Mr. Moloney is actively spraying officers with the wasp spray.
