Glenshaw man charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack

A Shaler Area substitute teacher, who the FBI said tried to organize other rioters, is accused of fighting with Capitol police officers and breaking into the building during the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C.

Robert Morss, who witnesses said previously served in the military and attended Penn State University, was arrested Friday morning by the FBI in Pittsburgh.

He is a day-to-day substitute teacher in the Shaler Area School District, officials said.

Morss, of Glenshaw, is charged with assault, resisting or impeding officers; civil disorder; robbery of personal property of the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding.

He was approved by the school board for the substitute position in December, said spokeswoman Bethany Baker. She said his focus area is social studies, and he is certified to teach in the middle and high school.

According to a 28-page affidavit against him, Morss was identified in various still images, Capitol surveillance videos and body cam footage worn by officers that day.

During the attack, Morss wore tan camouflage clothing, a tactical vest with scissors tucked in front, tan gloves and at times a red, Make America Great Again baseball hat. He has curly hair that stuck out of the side of his hat and sometimes wore clear goggles, investigators said.

According to the affidavit, Morss was captured on video on multiple occasions trying to breach the police lines, including organizing a shield wall with other rioters “in the violent attack on officers inside the Lower West Terrace tunnel, and entering into the Capitol through a broken window.”

Video shows him at one point, attempting to grab an officer’s baton away, and in another image, struggling to take an officer’s helmet visor.

According to the complaint, at 2:14 p.m., Morss was near the front line of the crowd facing police. He spoke to the person on his right and then the person on the left. A few seconds later, Morss grabbed the fence being held by the police officer that is separating the crowd, the affidavit said.

“As seen on the video, Morss then rips the fence out of the hands of the officer, with the assistance of the other rioters, including the one that appeared to nod in response to something Morss said right before grabbing the fence,” it continued.

Morss then retreated into the crowd with the fence.

In bodycam footage, Morss can be heard talking to the officers, saying, “‘You guys are betraying us. You get paid enough to betray your people?’”

He then continues, “‘This is our Capitol. This is our Capitol.’”

Around 2:30 p.m., the affidavit said, when the crowd was again surging and pushing officers further back, Morss can be heard in footage saying, “‘take a look around, back up, we are going to take our Capitol back.’”

A few minutes later, Morss and two unidentified people struggled over a black flag pole with a Metropolitan police officer.

By 2:40 p.m., investigators said, rioters had already breached the Capitol through several entrances, police said. However, officers were trying to hold the Lower West Terrace, and a group of officers was maintaining a line at the second set of glass doors inside a short tunnel that leads to the entrance.

“A growing number of rioters made their way into the tunnel with a variety of tools and weapons,” the affidavit said. “The tunnel became the point of an intense and prolonged clash between rioters and law enforcement at the United States Capitol.”

Morss is visible in Capitol surveillance footage at the tunnel entrance at 2:57 p.m., wearing the goggles and carrying the same yellow flag he’d had earlier, investigators said.

Five minutes later, he pushed toward a line of officers and grabbed the shield of one of them. They struggled over it, and ultimately Morss and other rioters got it away from the officer.

The rioters passed it back through the crowd. Morss then walked out of the tunnel into the crowd and yelled “shield wall,” and told people to pass up police riot shields, the affidavit said.

“As shown in YouTube Video 2, shields were then passed from the crowd to Morss and others by the tunnel’s front entrance,” the affidavit said. “The shields were then passed to the rioters at the front of the line confronting the officers guarding the doors with Morss then quickly returning into the tunnel to apparently direct the activity.”

Morss then yelled to the crowd to organize and make a shield wall. Then, investigators said, he braced both of his arms on the back of the person directly in front of him, pushing forward, and the crowd went together, pushing in unison, to break past the officers guarding the Lower West Terrace doors, the affidavit said.

The crowd continued to push, yelling “‘heave ho.’”

“It was during this time that an MPD officer was being violently crushed against the first set of doors with a shield held by another rioter,” the affidavit said.

Ultimately, Morss left the tunnel and entered the Capitol through a broken window, which led to an unassigned office for members of Congress.

“As captured on a livestream video from another rioter inside the room, furniture inside the room was toppled over and scattered, as well as some pieces appearing to be broken,” the affidavit said.

Video reviewed by investigators showed the rioters handing furniture out through the broken window, and later, what appear to be legs of chairs and tables, as well as desk drawers, were used by other rioters to attack officers guarding the Lower West Terrace doors, the complaint said.

After the FBI began circulating photos of the attack to try to identify those who participated, a witness contacted the agency and identified Morss as a Penn State graduate. Another witness interviewed by investigators said that Morss “may struggle with some mental health issues due to his time in the military.”

Morss has an initial court appearance Friday afternoon.