A former Arlington man identified as a prominent member of the Proud Boys extremist group has been charged in Washington, D.C., federal court with breaking into the U.S. Capitol during the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, obstructing Congress and assaulting a federal officer.
Daniel Lyons Scott, 27, was arrested on Thursday in Florida, where he made an appearance before a magistrate judge in Tampa. He was released on a $25,000 bond and ordered to appear in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to answer six felony charges, including assault, obstruction of Congress, obstruction of law enforcement and knowingly entering and engaging in acts of physical violence in a restricted building.
According to the charges, Scott, a prominent member of the Proud Boys who goes by the moniker “Milkshake,” was among the first of the insurrectionists to physically confront Capitol police blocking the building.
A number of photographs contained in the complaint show Scott — identifiable by his clothing, beard and a hat that stated, “God, Guns and Trump” — in a melee with officers outside the Capitol’s lower west plaza.
Other photos of Scott show him outside a hospital in Spokane in May 2020, where a COVID-19 memorial was vandalized, wearing a black ballistic vest labeled “Proud Boy.” In another, he’s showing off a “Proud Boy” arm tattoo.
Scott has previously lived in Tennessee and Florida, where he has a number of relatives. He was living in Arlington as recently as last year and in 2019 was quoted in The Herald of Everett.
The FBI and other federal officials have said the Proud Boys were among the primary instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, naming another Washington man — Ethan Nordean of Auburn — as a leader of the group. Nordean has been indicted and remains in federal custody.
Nordean and three others, Joseph Biggs of Florida, Zachary Rehl of Pennsylvania, and Charles Donohoe of North Carolina, are accused of being ringleaders in the Jan. 6 attack intended to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
The charges filed against Scott on Thursday place him in proximity with Nordean on Jan. 6. They cite a Wall Street Journal video where an off-screen speaker is heard saying, “Let’s take the (expletive) Capitol.”
According to the charges, “Another individual then approached the camera and says, ‘Let’s not (expletive) yell that, all right?’ ” Nordean is then seen walking past the camera, where he says: ‘It was Milkshake, man, you know … idiot.’ ”
A Department of Justice site tracking all of the individuals charged federally in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots indicates that Scott is the seventh Washington man charged in connection with the failed insurrection.
The others are Joseph Elliot Zlab, 51, of Lake Forest Park; Mark Leffingwell, 51, of Seattle; Ethan Nordean, 30, who lives near Auburn; Jeffrey Grace, 61, of Battle Ground; Taylor Johnatakis, 38, of Kingston; and Marc Bru, 41, of Vancouver.
