Special Agents working for the Texas Department of Public Safety announced today that they tracked down and arrested two people in connection with rioting and vandalism that occurred during protests near the Texas State Capitol in May.
The operation comes after two earlier arrests, June 27, in connection with the same events.
Over the weekend, agents executed arrest warrants for Joe Paul Mitchell, 56, of Austin, Texas, as well as a 16-year-old male, who was not identified by name.
In a press release, the agency said that it obtained warrants against Mitchell for rioting, resisting arrest and evading arrest. They accused him of “attacking and kicking a DPS patrol vehicle during the protest at the Texas State Capitol on May 30, 2020.”
The second suspect arrested over the weekend, the 16-year-old teen, faces charges of resisting arrest, criminal mischief, evading arrest, and two counts of riot. DPS says that it has surveillance footage of the boy spray-painting the Capitol together with an 18-year-old Pflugerville teen who was taken into custody June 27.
Last week, DPS said that the 18-year-old faced charges of “felony criminal mischief-destruction of public monument,” as well as misdemeanor criminal mischief, attempting to take a weapon from a peace officer, resisting arrest, interference with public duties and participating in a riot.
Another man arrested at the same time, Darius Deshawn Berkley, 22, of Austin, was charged with rioting on the Texas Capitol grounds. He is allegedly seen to the right in a photo released by DPS.
Surveillance footage also shows that the unnamed 16-year-old teenager spray-painted several locations the next day, May 31, including the Governor’s Mansion, according to DPS. Troopers attempted to arrest him at the time, but he fled.
Just over a month later, on Sunday, July 5, 2020, DPS Special Agents coordinated with the teen’s family, and he was taken into custody without incident.
The press release says, “Both of these arrests are the result of ongoing investigations conducted by DPS Special Agents and Crime Analysts who have reviewed hundreds of hours of videos from various media platforms, surveillance camera footage, law enforcement databases and open source information over the last several weeks.”
“The investigation into additional suspects continues.”
