Authorities arrested a Florida man with alleged ties to the Proud Boys who they said shouted “Let’s take the fucking Capitol!” an hour before the Jan. 6 attack, while marching with a swarm of Proud Boys around the building.
According to charging documents, authorities have identified 28-year-old Daniel Lyons Scott as the Proud Boys member known as “Milkshake,” who was wearing a ballistic vest, goggles and blue “GOD, Guns & Trump” cap that day. It appears he was the same person recorded on a previously released video yelling about taking the Capitol when one of the group’s leaders abruptly scolded him, saying, “Let’s not fucking yell that, alright?”
Court documents allege that accused Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean perhaps unintentionally led authorities to Scott, when he was recorded on the livestream moments later saying, “It was Milkshake, man, you know . . . idiot!”
Reporters and digital sleuths attempting to track the Capitol rioters have known about Scott for months: photos that appear to depict Scott have surfaced on social media, showing him in similar glasses emblazoned with the name “Milkshake” and brandishing what appears to be a tattoo on his bicep that reads “Proud Boy.”
The Wall Street Journal identified Scott as “Milkshake” in a video it posted on Jan. 26. The Daily Herald in Everett, Washington also wrote about Scott — the Proud Boy who it said “fought police” during the riot in a Jan. 31 article.
Scott was also identified in court documents as the man seen in footage that ProPublica downloaded from Parler, which shows a man in the same outfit and goggles at the frontlines of a crowd outside the lower west terrace yelling at U.S. Capitol Police. In that footage, Scott can be seen pushing two officers up the steps.
For now, Scott has dodged the conspiracy charges that Nordean and more than a half-dozen other Proud Boys who appeared to be in his orbit that day are facing. Instead he is dealing with charges of assault on a federal officer, engaging in physical violence on Capitol grounds and obstructing Congress, among other charges.
The vast majority of alleged Capitol rioters facing conspiracy charges are members of the Proud Boys or another far-right group, the Oath Keepers, USA Today reported earlier this month. Prosecutors allege as many as 60 members of the Proud Boys had communicated on the ground in Washington before some of those members led parts of the rioting on Jan. 6.
Nordean and three other Proud Boys in that group have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to obstruct police and the congressional session that was meeting at the time to finalize its validation of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Scott was arrested Thursday and had an initial court appearance in Tampa, according to the Justice Department.
