Arizona man who got Jan. 6 trip as Christmas gift from mom charged with assaulting police

WASHINGTON — An Arizona man whose trip to D.C. on Jan. 6 was a Christmas gift from his mother was arrested this week for allegedly assaulting police during the Capitol riot.

Jason Robert Tasker, 43, of Glendale, was served with a warrant Tuesday on felony charges of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding police. Tasker also faces the standard four misdemeanor charges in Jan. 6 cases. Tasker's warrant was served in Eloy, Arizona, just a short distance from the Arizona State Prison Complex where he is currently serving a 7.5-year sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stemming from a DUI crash on Memorial Day weekend 2021 that cost a woman her leg, according to WUSA9's sister station KPNX in Phoenix.

According to charging documents in his Jan. 6 case, Tasker traveled to the U.S. Capitol after attending former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally and first encountered police on the northwest side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, where he helped other rioters remove a bike rack and yelled at officers,” All of you are dismissed; go home!”

Tasker allegedly then made his way to the East Plaza, where he joined a group of rioters in breaking through barriers. Investigators said Tasker then walked to the Senate Carriage Door and forced his way to the front of the police lines. There, investigators said, Tasker lunged at police and grabbed two officers. When police responded with OC spray, Tasker allegedly retreated a short distance and then struggled with yet another officer stationed outside the door.

Investigators say Tasker then made his way to the Rotunda Doors, also on the east side of the building, where he entered around 3 p.m. – roughly 45 minutes after the first breach of the building at the Senate Wing Doors on the west side.

According to charging documents, Tasker again confronted police and yelled about pepper spray before finally leaving the Capitol roughly approximately 10 minutes later. Once back outside, investigators said, Tasker can be overhead on a phone call saying, “I was like the first person in, Momma.”

The FBI was first alerted to Tasker’s possible involvement in the riot in late January 2021, when the agency received a tip that Tasker’s mother had been showing her friends images he’d taken inside the Capitol. In May of that year, FBI agents spoke to an acquaintance of Tasker’s, who said Tasker had shown them selfies he’d taken inside the Capitol and told them the trip to D.C. was a Christmas gift from his mother.

Earlier this month, a federal magistrate judge in D.C. signed a writ ordering Tasker to be transferred to the District from Arizona for an initial appearance. According to KNPX, the aggravated assault sentence Tasker is currently serving was his 10th felony conviction.