AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Two men have been arrested and charged with rioting and committing other crimes at the Texas Capitol amid demonstrations against police violence and racial injustice, authorities said Monday.
State police arrested 18-year-old Gerald Govan Brown Saturday and found 22-year-old Darius Deshawn Berkley already being held in an Austin jail on unrelated charges, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
The agency said Brown was charged with several crimes including participating in a riot, criminal mischief-destruction of a public monument and attempt to take a weapon from a peace officer for actions during a May 30 demonstration.
Brown was not listed in Travis County jail records Monday, and an attorney for him could not be immediately identified.
Berkley was charged with rioting for a June 22 “incident” that the department did not describe. Jail records state he is being held on a combined $11,000 bond for that charge and two others of obstruction or retaliation. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Following the May 30 protest, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called in the National Guard to help guard the Capitol and reinforce state and local law enforcement officers.