Feb 21, 2022 4 min read

The wife of the former Fayette County man accused of pepper spraying police officers was arrested Wednesday in her home state of Kentucky and charged with joining him in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Shelly Stallings, who is married to Peter Schwartz, was arraigned Friday on multiple federal charges two days after being taken into custody near Owensboro, after photos and video allegedly showed her showering police officers in pepper spray alongside her husband outside the Capitol.

Schwartz has been jailed since his arrest last February after he was allegedly seen on video dousing police officers with pepper spray while they were guarding Congress, while he also wielded a club near the entrance. New video and photographs allegedly show Stallings standing by his side in a green plaid coat and using pepper spray on those same officers.

Stallings, 42, and Schwartz, 48, are originally from Kentucky, but were living at a Cleveland Avenue apartment in Uniontown when federal investigators said they traveled to Washington, D.C., for a rally in support of former president Donald Trump. They walked from the rally toward the Capitol, where federal investigators said they assaulted police and tried to enter the building, according to court documents.

Stallings is facing charges of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly or disruptive conduct; engaging in physical violence; disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. She is free on $25,000 unsecured bond.

It was not known why Stallings was indicted more than a year after her husband was arrested at their Uniontown apartment. Schwartz, who is a convicted felon and was released from a Kentucky prison in 2020 due to COVID-19 safety protocols, was living in this area with his wife while working in Fayette County. After Schwartz’s arrest, Stallings told investigators “she saw him mace the police,” according to testimony at his preliminary hearing last year, although there was no mention that she may also have taken part in spraying police officers while at the Capitol.

In addition to Schwartz and Stallings, the superseding indictment filed this week also names Jeffrey Scott Brown, 55, of Santa Ana, California, and Markus Maly, 47, of Fincastle, Virginia. It was not known if Schwartz and Stallings knew Brown or Maly before the assault on the Capitol.

During a video arraignment Friday before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on the new indictment, Schwartz took exception to his detention without bond for more than a year and his inability to review evidence against him. Schwartz said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Bond was “lying” when she said discovery materials were available to him through a secure network inside the Washington, D.C., jail where he’s being held.

“She’s a flat out flagrant liar. Period,” Schwartz said.

Bond said she was unaware that Schwartz was having issues reviewing materials and asked for a two-week delay to rectify the problem so he could see the FBI files.

Schwartz’s lawyer, Dennis Boyle, said the problems that his client has been having receiving evidence is furthering his anger against the government and judicial system.

“This is an extreme, serious matter from our point of view,” Boyle said.

Mehta agreed that they needed to move forward in order not to face constitutional questions about Schwartz’s detainment, while also suggesting they prepare to set a trial date soon.

“If we’re going to go to trial, we might as well schedule it now. … I’m already stacked up into the fall,” Mehta said.

He declined to set a solid trial date, but agreed to return for another status conference at 1 p.m. March 7 to discuss whether Schwartz has the necessary evidence to review before proceeding.