Trump fan featured in Biden ad admits to assaulting officers with bear spray on Jan. 6

WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump supporter who bear-sprayed officers during the Jan. 6 attack, and whose photo was featured in a Joe Biden ad in early 2024, has pleaded guilty, admitting that he hit at least three officers during the attack, temporarily blinding at least two of them.

Andy Steven Oliva-Lopez — whom online sleuths had dubbed "Blue Plaid Sprayer" because he was wearing a blue plaid shirt along with a helmet and a gas mask when he unleashed chemical spray on officers protecting the Capitol — pleaded guilty on Wednesday. His sentencing was set for Jan. 17, 2025, just days before the next president of the United States will be inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol.

In early 2024, before he was arrested, a photo of Oliva-Lopez pepper-spraying officers was featured in both a Joe Biden campaign and a presentation on the Capitol attack caseload by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. NBC News reported on Jan. 6, 2024, that online sleuths had identified him about two years earlier and turned that information over to law enforcement. Weeks later, the FBI arrested Oliva-Lopez in Oregon, confirming the sleuths' identification.

An agreed-upon statement of offense noted that one officer who was hit by Oliva-Lopez's bear spray described the pain as a nine out of 10, saying he "experienced a burning sensation in his eyes which made it impossible to see" and had to leave the police line for two-to-three hours after the assault. Another officer "similarly experienced an immediate burning sensation (an 8 out of 10 on a pain scale), the inability to see, and difficulty breathing" and had to leave the police line to go to an eye wash station inside the Capitol. "Both officers report that the orange spray went under their face shields and