Those who attacked their own nation’s Capitol failed to consider the consequences of doing so. This is part 6.
On January 6, 2021, a mob of Donald Trump supporters staged an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building. The Guardian reported that people stormed the chambers of the House and Senate while the Electoral College does were being tallied.
Guy Wesley Reffitt of Texas
March 8, 2022: NPR reported: “In the first Jan. 6 trial, a jury found Capitol riot defendant Guy Reffit guilty” It was written by Tom Driesbach.
A little more than a year after a group of pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed police, stormed the Capitol and temporarily halted the country’s peaceful transfer of power, a jury has unanimously returned a verdict in the first trial stemming from he events on Jan. 6, 2021:
Guilty on all counts.
The defendant, 49-year-old Guy Wesley Reffitt of Texas, was found guilty of these five criminal charges: transporting a firearm in furtherance of a civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; entering or remaining in a restricted area of grounds with a firearm; obstructing officers doing a civil disorder; and obstruction of justice — hindering communication through force or threat of physical force.
It took two days to seat a jury made up of Washington, D.C., residents. Many potential jurors said they lived or worked near the Capitol building — the scene of multiple crimes in this case — or even knew Capitol Police officers who were injured that day, which complicated jury selection.
Judge Dabney Friedrich sought jurors who could keep an “open mind,” despite anything they had heard before. The jury ultimately included employees of NASA and the Department of Defense, as well as a public school maintenance supervisor.
After opening statements, four days of often emotional testimony and closing arguments in a courthouse located on a short walk away from the Capitol, that jury took under four hours to reach its verdict.
Many of the 700-plus defendants charged in connection with the Capitol riot have been closely watching the outcome of his trial as they weight how to approach their own cases. It is widely believed that this guilty verdict will give prosecutors additional leverage in plea negations with other defendants.
When the verdict was read aloud, Reffitt showed little emotion.
At one point during the proceedings, he turned to his wife, Nicole Reffitt, who was sitting in the courtroom. They locked eyes, put their hands on their chests and nodded at one another.
Nicole Reffitt spoke to reporters outside the courthouse soon after. She encouraged other Jan. 6 defendants, whom she referred to as “1/6ers,” not to plead guilty.
“Guy was used as an example to make all the 1/6ers take a plea.” she said. “Do not take a plea, 1/6ers. Do not.”
She said that her husband would appeal the ruling and that “this fight has just begun.”
Prosecutors accused Reffitt of traveling to Washington, D.C., with a fellow member of a far-right militia organization called the Texas Three Percenters.
Testimony and evidence showed that Reffit brought an AR-15 rifle and a pistol with him on the trip. He took that pistol with him to the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, along with zip-tie-style flex cuffs, a helmet and body armor.
A demonstrators approached the building, Reffitt started ascending a stairwell in front of the Capitol guarded by a handful of police officers. Those officers testified that Reffitt told them, “You can’t stop us all. Let us in. Don’t be a traitor.” Officers shot at Reffitt with pepper balls and plastic less-lethal rounds and ultimately stopped him with pepper spray. As Reffitt sat in the stairwell, trying to wash the spray from his eyes, video showed him waving rioters forward.
Reffitt did not enter the building himself or make physical contact with any police officers. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Risa Berkower described Reffitt as the “tip of the mob’s spear” who gave rioters the window of opportunity to ultimately overwhelm the police line and take over the Capitol building.
When Reffitt returned home to Texas, he bragged in text messages and on recorded Zoom meetings about leading the charge on Jan. 6. His the-18-year-old son, Jackson Reffitt, had liberal political views and was troubled by what his father had done, so he began secretly recording his father.
Within days, Guy Reffitt became paranoid about being arrested. Jackson Reffitt testified at the trial that his father told him and his younger teenage sister, “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor. And traitor’s get shot.” Jackson Reffitt turned over the recordings he made of his father to the FBI. Five days alter, agents arrested Guy Reffitt.
At trial, prosecutors presented what they referred to as a “mountain of evidence.” That evidence included text messages; extensive video, including some recorded by Reffitt’s helmet-mounted camera on Jan. 6; a recorded Zoom meeting between Reffitt and members of his militia; and the audio recordings made by Jackson Reffitt.
Prosecutors backed up that evidence with testimony from Capitol Police officers who tried to stop Reffitt’s approach on the building; Rocky Hardie, a former member of the Texas Three Perceners who accompanied Reffitt on the trip to Washington and who was granted immunity for his testimony; and the defendant’s son, Jackson Reffitt.
The testimony of son against father made for the most dramatic and emotional day of testimony. Jackson Reffitt described the guilt and discomfort he felt about informing on his dad and how he felt “terrified” when his father told him that “traitors get shot.” Jackson Reffitt had been largely estranged from his family seen turning his father in to the FBI. At the beginning of his son’s testimony, Guy Reffitt began sobbing in the courtroom.
Inspector Monique Moore of the Capitol Police also became emotional when describing the panicked calls for help on the radio from police battling the rioters.
Reffitt’s criminal defense attorney, William Welch, called no witnesses, and his cross-examination of the government’s witnesses were generally brief. His open statement lasted just three minutes.
Welch described the government’s prosecution as a “rush to judgement” based on hyperbolic claims from Reffitt that should not be taken seriously. “Guy does brag, he exaggerates and he rants,” said Welch. The defense flatly denied that Reffitt had a gun with him on Jan. 6. Prosecutors contradicted that claim with an image of Reffitt on the Capitol steps with a holster holding a shiny object, multiple recorded statements by Reffitt saying he had his handgun on him and testimony from Reffitt saying he had his handgun on him and testimony from Reffitt’s fellow militia member.
At other times, Welch said the prosecution’s video evidence could be a “deepfake” — falsified computer-generated footage — or be otherwise manipulated. Welch presented no evidence to support that claim.
He also pressed Jackson Reffitt on Guy Reffitt’s drinking and use of Xanax, suggesting that Guy Reffitt may have been under the influence when he made the statements heard on recordings. Welch raised the possibility that Jackson Reffitt turned his father in for fame and fortune and asked about the many media interviews Jackson Reffitt has given and the money he has raised on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe. Jackson Reffitt flatly denied Welch’s insinuation during his testimony.
In his brief closing argument, Welch again insisted that Guy Reffitt was unarmed and urged the jury to convict Reffitt on a single leaser charge of entering and remaining in a restricted area — a misdemeanor.
The jury appeared to reject all of Welsh’s arguments and sided with the Department of Justice.
In a statement, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew M. Graves, said the jury “held Guy Reffitt accountable for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, finding him guilty of five felony charges. I would like to thank the jury for upholding the rule of law and for its diligent service in this case.”
The FBI’s Washington Field Office said in a statement: “Rather than take responsibility for his actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Reffitt opted to put his family through a painful trial. Today’s guilty verdict in the first jury trial of a Jan. 6 defendant should serve as a reminder for others who committed crimes at the Capitol that day that these are serious charges and the FBI and our law enforcement partners will do what it takes to hold them accountable.”
Reffitt’s sentencing hearing is set for June 8.
August 1, 2022: Office of Public Affairs U.S. Department of Justice posted: “Texas Man Sentenced to 87 Months in Prison for Actions Related to Capitol Breach.
Defendant Carried Loaded Gun Onto Capitol Grounds, Led Charge Against Law Enforcement, Later Sought to Obstruct Justice
A Texas man was sentenced today to 87 months in prison on civil disorder, obstruction of justice, and other charges for his actions before, during, and after the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Guy Wesley Reffitt, 49, of Wylie, Texas, was the first to stand among hundreds of defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the Capitol. He was found guilty by a jury in the District of Columbia on March 8, 2022, of five charges, including two counts of civil disorder and one count each of obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
“Guy Reffitt came to the Capitol on Jan. 6 armed and determined to instigate violence,” said Matthew M. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. “In his own words, his goal was to take the Capitol “before the day is over.” He and others contributed to the many assaults on law enforcement officers that day, putting countless more people — including legislators — at risk. The jury’s verdict and today’s sentence hold him accountable for his violent, unconscionable conduct.”
“Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes committed by Mr. Reffitt, and underscores the wanton disregard he had for one of the pillars of our democracy — the peaceful transition of power,” said Assistant Director in Charge of Steven M. D’Antuono of he FBI Washington Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners continue to be steadfast in our commitment to ensure that all individuals who committed crimes on January 6 are held to account for their actions.”
According to the government’s evidence, Reffitt was a member of the Texas Three Percenters, a military organization. He sent messages recruiting others in the group to join him in traveling to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. Among other things, he told the group, “we will strike the match in D.C. on the 6th.” Another militia member joined Reffitt, and the two left Texas on Jan. 5 for a trip of more than 1,000 miles in Reffitt’s car. Both men brought along handguns and AR-style rifles.
On the morning of Jan. 6, both men went to a rally on the Ellipse before heading to the Capitol. They were wearing body armor and carrying handguns, flexi-cuffs, and radios for communication. Reffitt also had a megaphone as well as a helmet with a camera mounted on the top for recording purposes. His mission, according to the evidence, was to stop Congress from acting. He was especially targeting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He told members of his militia group and those gathered around him at the Ellipse that he planned to physically drag Speaker Pelosi out of the Capitol Building by her ankles.
Reffitt repeatedly made statements recorded by his helmet camera while at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, including one in which he declared, “We’re taking the Capitol before the day is over.”
By approximately 1:50 p.m, Reffitt was at the front of a pack that charged the U.S. Capitol Police officers at the terrace on the west side of the Capitol building. He climbed a banister, led the mob up staircases outside the Capitol building, and kept advancing on the officers holding the police line, even as he was struck repeatedly by the officers’ less than lethal projectiles and O.C. spray.
As he kept moving, Reffitt urged others to keep moving forward, too. He eventually made it up the stairs to outside the Senate wing of the Capitol, as others breached the building, but he did not personally go inside. While narrating a video he recorded that day, he stated, “I said I wasn’t leaving till I got in there. I didn’t make it in there. But I started the fire.”
Reffitt later boasted about his actions in conversations with his traveling companion as well as in messages and a meeting with other militia members. On Jan. 9, 2021, for instance, he wrote, “We took the Capitol of the United States of America and we will do it again.”
But his mood quickly changed. On Jan. 10, 2021, after learning that the Texas Three Percenters’ leader had been questioned by Texas law enforcement agents, Reffitt sent messages to several other group members, urging them to “Start purge of all previous conversations. NOW.” Heeding his own advice, he deleted from his iPhone a Telegram message thread between himself and the militia leader in which he disclosed his plans to be armed while attacking the Capitol.
Reffitt also told his family what he had done and threatened his teenage children to prevent them from reporting him to law enforcement.
Reffitt was arrested on Jan, 16, 2021, and he has been detained ever since. In a search of his home, FBI agents located the AR-15 style rifle and Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol that Reffitt had brought into Washington. They also located an illegal firearm suppressor, cans of bear spray, flexi-cuffs, and other items.
Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.
The case was prosecuted by the US. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern and Northern Districts of Texas.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Frisco Resident Agency of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, and the Austin Resident Agency of the FBI’s San Antonio Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police.
In the 18 months since January 6, 2021, more than 850 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
August 1, 2022: BBC reported: Guy Reffitt: Capitol rioter turned in by son gets 87 months in prison”. It was written by Sam Cabral & Tara McKelvey.
A Texas Man who joined the US Capitol riot armed with a holster pistol and threatened his son to keep quiet about his role has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Guy Reffitt, 49, was found guilty in March on five felony counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding and interfering with police in a riot.
His sentence is the longest imposed on any of the US Capitol rioters.
Nearly 900 people have been charged in the 6 January 2021 raid on Congress.
Reffitt did not actually enter the Capitol with the horde of Trump supporters who breached the complex as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s win in the November 2020 presidential election.
He retreated after an officer pepper sprayed him in the face, but video evidence showed Reffitt egging on the crowd and leading other rioters up a set of stairs outside the building.
Multiple videos Reffitt took on and after 6 January, in which he discussed planning and bragged about participating in the riot, were used in evidence against him.
Issuing a prison sentence of 87 months on Monday, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich said Reffitt’s actions and statements were “frightening claims that border on delusional.”
An oil-field worker and recruits for the far-right Three Percenters militia, Refit is said to have driven from Texas to Washington, D.C., and led fellow Three Percenters up the main staircase to the Capitol building.
According to court papers, he had told fellow members of the militia that he had planned to drag US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles, “with her head hitting every step on the way down.”
Reffitt was reported to the FBI by his son, Jackson, 18 at the time, who told investigators his father had threatened him.
“He said ‘if you turn me in, you’re a traitor,” the younger Reffitt said at his father’s trial earlier this year. “And traitors get shot.”
The sentence Judge Friedrich handed down was slightly below what is recommended by federal guidelines. She also declined to apply a domestic terrorism enhancement — the first requested in a US Capitol riot case.
The Texan wore an orange prison jumpsuit at the Washington DC courthouse and listened carefully as the judge credited supportive statements from Reffitt’s family for the lower sentence.
Analysts say Reffit’s sentence shows that government prosecutors may have a harder time than expected in securing the length of custodial terms they believe US Capitol rioters deserve.
Prosecutor had sought a 15-year prison term, arguing Reffitt was “in a class all by himself” among Capitol riot defendants, and other rioters were “looking to him as their leader.”
But defense lawyers had argued the attack would have happened with or without him and noted he had no criminal history.
Having declined to testify at trial, Reffitt apologized in a brief statement before his sentencing, saying he had “an issue with just rambling an saying stupid [expletive]”.
His family, including his wife, sat in the court’s third row, and his daughter Peyton spoke on his behalf.
“He says a lot of things he doesn’t mean. His mental health is an issue,” she said, visibly emotional.
She added: “My father’s name wasn’t on the flags everyone was carrying that day.
“It was another man’s name,” she added in an apparent reference to former US President Donald Trump.
His wife, Nicole Reffitt told reporters the trial show that “corrupt, evil politicians her in this city” are trying to undermine US civil liberties.
“This isn’t just about Guy Wesley Reffitt. This isn’t about just January 6th. This is about our liberties being stomped on,” she argued.
December 6, 2024: The Associated Press posted: “The first rioter tried on Jan. 6 charges gets reduced prison sentence after Supreme Court decision” It was written by Michael Kunzelman.
A Texas man who was the first rioter to go on trial for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was resentenced on Friday to nearly seven years in prison after he delivered an angry, profane rant to the judge who agreed to modestly reduce his original sentence.
Guy Reffitt benefited from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that led to the dismissal of his conviction on an obstruction charge. His new sentence — six years and eight months — is seven months lower than his original sentence.
Reffit repeatedly shook his head and appeared to be agitated as he listened to U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich and a prosecutor describe his role in the mob’s attack on the Capitol. He told the judge that he was “in my feelings” and upset about the “lies and craziness” that he perceived.
“I was not here to take over no government,” Reffitt said. “I love this country.”
“No one has a problem with your feelings,” the judge said. “It’s the actions you took with your feelings.”
Reffitt stormed the Capitol with a holstered handgun on his waste. He also was carrying zip-tie handcuffs and wearing body armor and a helmet equipped with a video camera when he advanced on police officers outside the building. He retreated after an officer pepper sprayed him in the face, but he waved on other rioters who ultimately breached the building.
Prosecutors said Reffitt told fellow members of the Texas Three Percenters militia group that he planed to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles, “with her head hitting every step in the way down.”
“His objective was to overtake Congress, physically and with violence,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler.
“In his own words,” Nestler added, “Congress was the demon and he was going to cut the head off the demon.”
Reffitt is one of several Jan. 6 defendants to be resentenced after a Supreme Court ruling in June limited the government’s use of a federal obstruction law. The high court ruled 6-3 that a charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that a defendant tried to tamer with or destroy documents — a distinction that applies to few Jan. 6 criminal cases.
A jury convicted Reffitt of four other counts, including a charge that he threatened his two teenage children after returning to their home on Wylie, Texas, after the riot. Reffitt’s son Jackson, then 19, testified that his father told him and his younger sister, then 16, that they would be traitors if they reported him to authorities and warned them that “traitors get shot.”
Reffitt’s two daughters spoke favorably of their father during his resentencing. They descried him as a caring father who doesn’t pose a danger to anybody.
Prosecutors said Reffitt’s recent communications from jail indicate that he “views his imprisonment as an injustice and as part of a greater cause, and that he maintains pride in his actions on January 6 and his involvement in the community of those who he believes have been wrongly prosecuted for their crimes on that day.”
More than 1,500 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. About 1,000 of them have pleaded guilty. Roughly 250 others have been convicted by a judge or jury after a trial.
The ‘Cowboys for Trump’ Guy
March 18, 2024: NBC News reported: “Supreme Court turns away ‘Cowboys for Trump’ co-founder ousted from office over Jan. 6” It was written by Lawrence Hurley.
The legal argument that worked for President Donald Trump failed to deliver for one of his supporters Monday as the Supreme Court turned away a New Mexico man who was kicked out of local office over his role in the events of Jan. 6.
Couy Griffin, a founder of Cowboys for Trump, was criminally convicted over his role in the Jan. 6 riot and lost his job as a county commissioner as a result.
The lawsuit brought against him by New Mexico residents cited the same constitutional provision that Trump successfully argued in a separate case and could not be used to throw him off the ballot in Colorado.
Both cases concerned Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says that those who previously took an oath to the Constitution while holding a government position but later “engaged in insurrection” cannot hold office.
Griffin had been hoping that a victory for Trump could help him, as well.
But when the Supreme Court ruled for Trump in that case March 4, it made it clear that the ruling applied only to those running for federal office.
“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency,” the court said.
As a result, Griffin’s case was effectively resolved. The court rejected his appeal Monday without comment.
“Very disappointed. I don’t even know what to say,” Griffin said on X. “But I thank you for your prayers and for standing with me through this.”
The lawsuit seeking to throw Griffin out of office was brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group that filed the Trump ballot lawsuit.
The Supreme Court’s actions in the two cases make it clear that “it is up to the states to fulfill their duty to Section 3 to remove from office anyone who broke their oath by participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection,” Noah Bookbinder, the group’s president, said in a statement Monday.
A state judge removed Griffin from his position as a commissioner in Otero County, New Mexico, in September 2022 after concluding that his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, made him ineligible to serve.
Earlier that year, Griffin was convicted of illegally entering the Capitol grounds, although he was acquitted of engaging in disorderly conduct during chaotic scenes in which Trump supporters attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election win.
Section 3, enacted after the Civil War, prevents anyone who previously took an oath to defend the Constitution from holding various government offices. It was passed to prevent former Confederates from returning to government but has rarely been enforced.
March 22, 2022: NPR reported: ‘Cowboys for Trump’ leader is given a mixed verdict in his Jan. 6, Captol riot trial” It was written by Allison Molenkamp.
A federal judge found a New Mexico elected official and founder of “Cowboys for Trump” guilty on one count and not guilty on another in the second trial relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Couy Griffin, a county commissioner in Otero County, N.M., was charged with two counts: entering a restricted area and engaging in disorderly conduct. Griffin was found guilty of entering the restricted area and acquitted of the disorderly conduct charge.
Prosecutors alleged Griffin climbed over an outer wall and then went up a temporary staircase to an outside deck at the Capitol. Judge Trevor McFadden, presiding over what was the firs bench trial related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said evidence showed Griffin crossing three walls and that Griffin would have seen fencing in the area.
“All of this would suggest to a normal person that perhaps you should not be entering the area,” said McFadden, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia in 2017 by then-President Donald Trump.
Unlike many charged in the insurrection, Griffin, who waived his right to a trial by jury, was not accused of entering the Capitol building itself or of assaulting any law enforcement officers.
In addressing the disorderly conduct charge, McFadden pointed to a montage of other video footage from Jan. 6, including conduct he seemed to see as more disruptive than Griffin’s.
“The defendant is never seen engaging in the kind of property destruction or physical violence seen in the government’s montage,” McFadden said.
The mixed verdict represents a partial victory for the government, which succeeded in establishing that the Capitol grounds were an area protected by the Secret Service on the day of the riot.
Since Griffin’s actions and statements on Jan. 6 were well-documented, the government’s case against him hinged mostly on legal definitions: what were the bounds of the restricted area, what authority set it, and did Griffin’s conduct reach the bar of “disorderly.”
The prosecution, led by Senior Assistant U.S. Attorney Janani lyengar, argued that Struck’s videos showed Griffin knew what he was doing wrong.
“We don’t have to rely on inferences, we have the defendant’s own statements that he knew this area was restricted, and he entered anyway,” Iyengar said in a closing statement, referring to comments Griffin made after the riot about the area around the Capitol being roped off on Jan. 6.
The government also argued the any reasonable person would have understood the Capitol grounds and inauguration state were off limits to the public.
Iyengar also pointed to testimony from a Secret Service witness saying the continued presence of unauthorized individuals within the restricted area forced then-Vice President Mike Pence to remain evacuated throughout the riot.
The trial marked the first time the government has acknowledged Pence, and his family’s location during the Capitol riot: an underground loading dock near the Capitol Visitor Center. The government has sought repeatedly to shield this information from the public, due to security concerns.
Judge McFadden, however said that Griffin had the right to probe this evidence in open court. Pence’s location was the key to proving Griffin violated the law regarding restricted areas.
The Justice Department has charged many defendants under the same statute as Griffin, which depends on an area being restricted due to the presence of a Secret Service protectee.
If Judge McFadden had ruled that the restricted area no longer included the Capitol because Pence went underground, that ruling could have caused ripple effects in the hundreds of other Jan. 6 cases.
Defense attorney Nicholas Smith argued the area around the Capitol was restricted by the U.S. Capitol Police, not by the Secret Service, and therefore not governed by the particular statute Griffin was charged under.
Smith also argued that Griffen did not know he’d entered a restricted are at all, pointing to a lack of “Do Not Enter” signs in the specific area of the boundary Griffin crossed.
The prosecution argued that the restricted area of the Capitol grounds was well-marked, including with bike racks and signs from the U.S. Capitol police.
Inspector John Erickson of the Capitol Police also testified that law enforcement used flashing and chemical irritants to clear the lower west terrace of the Capitol during the riot, suggesting the area was clearly off limits.
On the charge of disorderly conduct, the prosecution pointed to Griffin’s loud speeches, including one in which he said, “we’re not going anywhere, we aren’t taking no for an answer. We’re not gonna get our election stolen from us from China. This is an American that’s had enough right here.”
The defense tried to turn the disorderly conduct charge into a first amendment free speech question. Smith pointed to the steps and lawn of the Capitol as a public forum, where Griffin has a “constitutional right” to make speeches as seen in the videos.
As long as Griffin did not incite violence, Smith argued, Griffin’s speech was protected. Smith pointed to witness testimony from Struck saying when Griffin led a prayer the crowd was calmed, some even kneeling.
McFadden repeatedly drew a distinction between the lawn of the Capitol and the inaugural stage itself on the question of the Capitol grounds as a public forum. He also noted that while some members in the crowd knelt in response to the prayer, others chanted “Pray for Trump.”
Griffin did not testify in the trial, but sat at the defense table. He arrived the first day in a black cowboy hat and black western-style jacket.
Griffin has drawn media attention before. Shortly after Jan. 6, he said in a Facebook video that “we could have a Second Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. You know, and if we do, then It’s gonna be a sad day because there’s gonna be blood running out of that building.”
After the trial, Griffin told reporters, “I wear January 6 as a badge of honor.”
Griffen is scheduled to be sentenced in June of this year.
He is only the second person to go to trial in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. The first trial resulted in a unanimous guilty verdict on all five felony charges, after the jury deliberated for just two hours.
According to an NPR database tracking the charges related to Jan. 6, nearly 800 people have been charged with crimes stemming from the Capitol riot, and more than 230 have pleaded guilty to one or more charges.
June 17, 2022: CBS News reported: “New Mexico county commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin sentenced for Jan. 6 conviction” It was written by Robert Legare and Scott MacFarlane.
The founder of the “Cowboys for Trump” organization and commissioner of Otero County, New Mexico, Couy Griffin, was sentenced Friday to 14 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, 60 hours of community service and a year of supervised release on Friday after being convicted of entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021.
Griffin, who has been in jail for 20 days, will revive credit for time served and will not have to serve additional time.
Griffin was found guilty in March of the misdemeanor, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. A federal judge acquitted him of another misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in a bench trial during which the judge, not a jury, renders the verdict.
Judge Trevor McFadden ruled the Griffin was guilty of the charge the arose from his illegal entry of U.S. Capitol grounds in the vicinity of then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Capitol building for the counting of the Electoral College votes and remained in the Capitol complex during the riot.
Prosecutors had said Griffin should get 90 days in prison with credit for the 20 days he has already served, contending that despite statements to the contrary, Griffin has shown a lack of remorse for his actions. Referring the split ruling one conviction and one acquittal rendered by McFadden, prosecutors noted the Griffin tweeted in the weeks after his trial and criticized the judge.
“The 1 I lost will appeal. We SHOULD have won a grand slam on both counts,” Griffin tweeted. “McFaddens PRE written response was pathetic! I wonder who wrote it??”
During the sentencing, McFadden said that Griffin not entering the Capitol “puts the case on a lower misdemeanor level,” but said there is a “grave tension” between his comments in the courtroom and his tweets.”
“Sometimes you are your own worst enemy here,” said McFadden.
McFadden also said he should uphold his oath to the Constitution, noting his responsibility as an elected official. “You are encouraging the breaking of our laws. I have to take that seriously,” McFadden said.
Griffin maintains his mistaken belief that the 2020 election was fraudulent, but McFadden said he was not being sentenced for his voting fraud beliefs.
Griffin’s sentencing in Washington, D.C., took place on the same day as New Mexico’s deadline to certify its election results, and currently, Otero County is refusing to certify, citing unspecified concerns about Dominion voting machines used in the June 7 primary.
The commissioners have not identified any problems with the voting machines, but allies of former President Trump made disproven conspiracy-laden accusations against the reliability of the machines after the 2020 election.
The Democratic secretary of state and the state Supreme Court have ordered Otero County’s commission to certify its results, and there is an emergency meeting of the commission on Friday evening, although it is not clear whether Griffin, who told CNN he would vote against certifying, will be back in New Mexico for the meeting.
Griffin, who arrived in court wearing his signature cowboy hat, took the stand saying, “I am sorry for the violence that day” and that he “disagreed” with it.
“My actions on January 6 was a result of my faith,” said Griffin, who has earlier said he went to pray over the crowd. “I live a life devoted to the Lord.”
Griffin said after the sentencing he believes he is honoring his oath of office by advocating for the hand counting of votes counted by Dominion machines.
“It could be a baseless claim, but you can’t prove anything is baseless until you look deeper into it,” he said Friday afternoon.
Griffin was not accused of any act of physical violence or entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, but of being present on restricted Capitol grounds cordoned of by law enforcement and closed to the public ahead of the election certification. He asked the judge to sentence him to no more than two months’ probation, which his lawyer argued was the averse term for such an offense.
“To the extent his presence there contributed to the distress of outnumbered law enforcement officer, he offers them his sincere apology,” the defense wrote in a rehearing filing, later adding, “No evidence, in any case, indicated that Griffin’s purpose in being in the area was driven by [Pence’s] presence specifically” at the Capitol.
“Though he is of limited means, Griffin would seize an opportunity to offer assistance to injured officers and to contribute to the repair of physical damage to the Capitol. Griffin vows to never again enter a restricted area, at the Capitol or anywhere else,” the filing said.
Prosecutors, however, argued Griffin was part of the mob that “succeeded in halting the Congressional certification,” accord to a recent court filing.
“Griffin remained on the Capitol grounds for over two hours while rioters engaged in acts of violence and property damage on the Capitol grounds,” the memo read.
Prosecutors also allege he has used his legal fight as a way to raise monty, asking for contributions to an online funding page.
Jail time, the government argued, was the only way to deter Griffin from acting in such a way again, a claim is legal team countered, saying, “the same Griffin has experienced is itself a guarantee of deterrence.”
He was arrested in the weeks following the attack and held in pretrial detention before his legal team successfully one his court-ordered release. Griffin claimed he was innocent and argued he was unaware that Pence was still anywhere in the Capitol area. He did not testify in his own defense.
June 17, 2022: Reuters reported: “Cowboys for Trump founder sentenced to 14 days for breaching Capitol grounds” It was written by Sarah N. Lynch.
A Republican member of a governing commission in New Mexico who founded a group called “Cowboys for Trump” was sentenced on Friday to 14 days in jail over his role in breaching the U.S. Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
But the man, Couy Griffin, will get credit for the 20 days he already served in pretrial detention, and will not be required to report to prison, the judge said. He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and serve 60 days of community service.
Griffin is one of three members of the Republican-led Otero County commission that is refusing to certify June’s primary election results, citing unfounded conspiracy theories about voting machines.
Griffin was convicted in a bench trial in March of a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining on restricted grounds on Jan. 6, 2021.
Unlike many of the more than 840 defendants in the Capitol riot cases, Griffin did not physically enter the building itself.
He was acquitted of a second misdemeanor of disorderly conduct.
At his sentencing hearing in Washington on Friday, Griffin told U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden that his Christian faith prompted him to enter the Capitol grounds that day, and he swore he “could be struck dead right now,” when he said he truly did not know he was on restricted grounds.
“My actions on Jan. 6 were the result of my faith,” he said. “I received that message to go pray with people.”
Prosecutors in the case had sought a sentence of 90 days in jail, with credit for 20 days served.
They cited Twitter posts Griffin wrote, including one in which he blasted McFadden’s ruling to convict him in the case, calling it “prewritten” and “pathetic” “I wonder who wrote it?” the tweet asked.
“All of that goes to show he does not have any remorse whatsoever,” prosecutor Janani Iyengar said.
Although McFadden did not impose additional jail time, he nevertheless had harsh words for Griffin and called the Capitol riots “a national embarrassment.”
He told Griffin it was “preposterous” to claim he did not know he was violating the law, and blasted his inflammatory Twitter posts, which he said contradicted Griffin’s claims of contrition.
“Sometimes, sir, you are probably your own worst enemy.”
He also chastised Griffin, saying that as an elected official he swore to uphold the law. “I urge you to consider the oath you’ve taken,” he said.
Griffin’s sentencing comes just two days after the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered Otero County’s Republican-led commission to certify June’s primary election results.
The commission is also facing a criminal referral by Democratic-led secretary of state’s office to the state attorney general. The referrals asks the state to open an investigation into “multiple unlawful actions… that directly implicate criminal violations of the Election Code and the Government Conduct Act.”
During his sentencing hearing, Griffin continued to insist there was fraud in the election telling McFadden an audit had uncovered “major discrepancies.” He described himself as a “victim” of political backlash who had been labeled as “crazy and right-wing and white supremacist.”
Later, in comments outside the courthouse to reporters, he said he would decline to comply with the state court’s order to change his vote and certify the June 7 primary results.
“All we want to do is hand-count the ballots that are right. now resting inside the Dominion machine,” he said.
September 6, 2022: CNN reported: “New Mexico county commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder removed from elected office for role in US Capitol riot”. It was written by Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, and Scott Brownstein.
A New Mexico judge on Tuesday removed January 6 rioter and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin from his elected position as a county commissioner for his role in the US Capitol attack.
The ruling was the result of a lawsuit seeking Griffin’s remove, which alleged that he violated a clause in 14th Amendment of the Constitution by participating in an “insurrection” against the US government. He had been convicted of trespassing earlier this year.
The historic ruling represents the first time an elected official has been removed from office for their participation or support of the US. Capitol riot. It also marks the first time a judge has formally ruled that the events of January 6, 2021, were an “insurrection.”
The disqualification comes after unsuccessful challenges by liberal-leaning groups against prominent Trump supporters in the US House of Representatives and Trump-backed candidates of state offices across the country.
Griffin, one of three commissioners in Otero County, is also barred from holding any state or federal elected position in the future, state Judge Francis Mathew ruled Tuesday.
“The irony of Mr. Griffin’s argument that this court should refrain from applying the law this Court should refrain from applying the law and consider the will of he people in District Two of Otero County who retained him as a county commissioner against a recall effort as he attempts to defend his participation in an insurrection by a mob whose goal, by his own admission, was to set aside the result of a free, fair and lawful election by a majority of the people of the entire country (the will of the people) has not escaped this Court,” Mathew wrote.
Griffin, an ardent conspiracy theorist who refused to verify the state’s primary election results this summer in Otero County, told CNN he has been ordered to clean out his office and attacked the judge for being “tyrannical.”
“I’m shocked. Just shocked,” Griffin said. “I really did not feel like the state was going to move on me in such a way. I don’t know where I go from here.”
In his ruling Tuesday, Mathew wrote that Griffin’s attempts “to sanitize his actions are without merit” and “amounted to nothing more than attempting to put lipstick on a pig.”
Griffin and his organization Cowboys for Trump spent “months normalizing the violence that may be necessary to keep President Trump in office,” and urging supporters to travel to Washington, DC, on January 6, Mathew wrote, including multiple inflammatory public speech in which he likened the Stop the Steal movement to a “war” to keep Trump in office.
In June, a DC federal judge sentenced Griffin to 14 days behind bars with time served and one year of supervised release after he was found guilty of trespassing on Capitol grounds during the riot.
February 13, 2024: NBC News reported: ‘Cowboys for Trump’ founder is hoping a Supreme Court ruling on ballot eligibility could help him, too” It was written by Lawrence Hurley.
Couy Griffin is a fervent supporter of Donald Trump, but he has an addition reason for hoping the Supreme Court rule that the former president can stay on eh ballot in Colorado — the decision could benefit him as well.
Griffin, a founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” was criminally convicted for his participation in the events of Jan. 6 that led to an attack on the U.S. Capitol and was later kicked out of office as a county commissioner in New Mexico as a result.
He has his own appeal pending at the Supreme Court that raises questions similar to Trump’s appeal argued last week.
Griffin was removed from his elected position based on the same theory that Colorado officials cite to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot: a section of the 14th amendment that says those who “engaged in insurrection” cannot hold office.
Based on oral arguments last week, it appears likely the Supreme Court will rule for Trump in his case. The Supreme Court’s reasoning could then apply in Griffin’s case.
Griffin said in an interview he listened to some of the argument and was heartened by the justices’ questions.
“President Trump is at the very top and I am at the very bottom, but a lot of the things they are trying to go after Trump on they have already been after me on,” he said. “I have been kind of a testing ground for the legal stuff.”
The justices are scheduled to discuss Griffin’s case in private for the first time at their regular private conference on Friday.
A state judge removed Griffin from his position as a commissioner in Otero County, New Mexico, in September 2022 after concluding that his actions on Jan. 6 made him ineligible to serve.
Earlier that year, Griffin was convicted of illegally entering the Capitol grounds, although he was acquitted of engaging in disorderly conduct during chaotic scenes in which Trump supporter attempted to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election win.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, enacted in the wake of the Civil War, prevents anyone who previously took an oath to defend the Constitution from holding various government offices. It was passed to prevent former Confederates from returning to government but has rarely been enforced.
In Trump’s case, questions asked by the justices indicated the court could rule that only Congress could enforce Section 3 against a presidential candidate.
Donald Sherman, a lawyer at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning watchdog group that represents plaintiffs in both the Trump and Griffin cases, said Griffin would lose out even if the Supreme Court rules in Trump’s favor.
That is in part because of technical legal issues about how Griffin’s case was litigated, but also because the Trump ruling could just focus on federal offices and not state ones, he said.
In the Trump oral argument, justices “raised questions about states enforcing Section 3 against those seeking national office, but expressed no concern about state enforcement against state officials,” Sherman wrote in an email.
Griffin’s lawyer, Peter Ticktin, said the New Mexico court ruling made no distinction between federal and state offices, meaning Griffin can’t hold any government position.
“He can’t even run for dog-catcher,” he said.
Vikram Amar, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law who filed a brief in the Trump case saying that Section 3 does not have to be enforced by Congress, and the ruling could distinguish between the presidency and other offices but that such a distinction would be “fabricated by the court.”
If the court rejects the argument that Section 3 is self-executing, “I suppose you can make up whatever you want,” he added, which means Griffin loses out.
Griffin, who at one point planned to ride a horse to this trial in Washington before abandoning the idea, said the entire process to remove him from office was unfair.
“It’s amazing. We live in a country where the headline is ‘democracy is under attack,” and they use a civil bench trial to remove an elected official,” he said.
Griffin, however, is no eyeing a return to elected office even if he were to win the case. He is hoping Trump wins the presidential election and appoints him to a position in the federal government.
The one potential problem with that plan: Section 3 applies to appointed positions, too.
March 19, 2024: CNN Politics reported: “Supreme Court won’t review ruling that removed New Mexico official from office over January 6, insurrection” It was written by John Fritze and Marshall Cohen.
The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the appeal of a former New Mexico county commissioner who was removed from office because of his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection — a case that was similar to the one the high court recently decided involved former President Donald Trump.
Cowboys for Trump founder and convicted Capitol rioter Couy Griffin was removed from office in 2022, marking the first time an elected official was booted from office under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” because of the US Capitol riot.
The Supreme Court’s move means the ruling barring Griffin from office will stand.
In a unanimous decision on March 4, the high court sided with Trump in a similar case. Six Colorado voters attempted to knock the former president off the ballot in that state because his remarks before the attack on the US Capitol in 2021. But the court ruled that states couldn’t do so on their own.
Responsibility for enforcing the ban, the court wrote, “rests with Congress and not the states.” But the ruling explicitly said states are allowed to enforce the so-called insurrectionist ban against “persons holding or attempting to hold state office.”
That’s the process that was followed with Griffin, who was removed by his local county office by a New Mexico state judge.
And further, Griffin, unlike Trump, had already been found guilty of a January 6-related crime when he was disqualified from holding office. He was convicted of trespassing on Capitol grounds after a bench trial in March 2022. He was acquitted of a second misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, but the conviction bolstered the challengers’ arguments that he engaged in an insurrection.
A civil trial on the disqualification question was held later that year. A state judge ruled that January 6 was an insurrection and the Griffin violated the oath he took as a commissioner by engaging in that insurrection. Griffin was disqualified under Section 3 and was removed in September 2022.
New Mexico’s top court dismissed Griffin’s appeal on procedural grounds.
A prominent right-wing conspiracy theorist, Griffin was part of the Capitol insurrection mob, though he didn’t enter the building itself.
He returned to national attention in June 2022 by refusing to certify the legitimate results of a primary elections in his county, citing baseless claims of election irregularities, which triggered a standoff with state election officials.
In a recent interview with CNN, Griffin slammed the process the led to his disqualification, and also criticized the similar cases against Trump.
“This whole thing starts on a small scale, with them coming after me, with the specific goal of bringing it up to the big stage with Donald Trump,” Griffin said. “I was the test case.
October 22, 2024: Law & Crime reported: ‘Breaching the restricted area suffices,”: Court shuts down ‘Cowboys for Trump’ founder’s Jan. 6 conviction appeal, rejects argument he didn’t know Pence was there”. It was written by Colin Kalmbacher.
A federal court of appeals on Tuesday denied a prominent Jan. 6 defendant’s effort to overturn his misdemeanor trespass conviction.
In March 2022, Couy Griffin, the founder of “Cowboys for Trump” and a former New Mexico county commissioner, was convicted on one count of entering a restricted area on the Capitol grounds and acquitted on one count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. The bench trial was overseen by Donald Trump’s appointed U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.
On the day of the riot, Griffin made his way into a restricted area that had been cordoned off and closed to the public in order to protect then-Vice President Mike Pence as he waited to oversee vote tallies.
In determining the defendant’s guilt, the lower court judge said Griffin “certainly knew he shouldn’t be there” and “yet, he remained.”
On appeal, the defendant argued his actions did not satisfy the part of the statute that criminalizes trespassing in non-public places.
Griffin said his actions should be reasonably viewed as innocent because the Capitol grounds are typically open to the public, and earlier rioters had dispensed with various law enforcement barriers and signage indicating the area had been restricted.
That argument did not go over well with the majority.
“Under his reading, a defendant would be entitled to acquittal so long as he waited until a sufficiently strong gust of wind, a soaking downpour — or even a less scrupulous prior intruder — disposed of law enforcement tape, fencing, or signage before he entered a sensitive area in full awareness he was not lawfully authorized to do so,” the opinion reads. “We decline to read the statute to allow a mob to de-restrict an officially restricted area encompassing persons under Secret Service protection.”
The court explains its reasoning at length:
U.S. Capitol grounds qualified on January 6 as a “restricted building or grounds” and were “posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted” when Griffin entered and remained there. In anticipation of then-Vice President Pence’s presence at the Capitol to certify the electoral votes on January 6, law enforcement officers had erected barriers around the perimeter of the closed area with layers of snow fencing and bike racks supplementing pre-existing permanent walls to encircle the Capitol grounds.
Signs indicating the area was closed were affixed along the barriers. By the time Griffin entered the restricted area, many of those physical manifestations of its closure had been largely trampled, but that fact did not alter the status of the area as closed to the public.
The defendant also argued that lacked the requisite mental state required to commit the crime because he did not know he was trespassing. A related defense argument on the mental state issue was that the court failed to require the government to prove Griffin knew why trespassing in that particular instance would be a crime.
In what might pass for a rehash of the discussion about what Griffin actually did, the court goes through a lengthy recitation about what the government actually proved during the bench trial.
Again, the majority at length:
The government proved that Griffin saw the rings of fencing and signage encircling the Capitol grounds on January 5, and when he recorded a video with the grounds as his backdrop. And it showed that he recorded a video with the grounds as his backdrop.
And it showed that, the next day, when Griffin scaled the stone wall that partially delineated the grounds, he landed on trampled snow fencing and signs, which the district court observed would suggest to a reasonable person “that perhaps you should not be entering the area.”
The evidence that Griffin knew he was trespassing only mounted as he continued to progress across the grounds. Arriving at the base of the inaugural stage, he announced, “we’re in now,” and joked that he should hide his identity with a face mask. When Griffin quipped that he loved the “smell of napalm in the air,” he showed he knew that law enforcement officers were using teargas as they battled to expel a mob — a clear sign that the area remained restricted.
As for the argument that prosecutors never proved he knew why the ground were restricted, the court concluded: “The government was not requires to prove that Griffen was aware that the Vice President’s presence was the reason the ground remained restricted.”
Public policy reasons undergird the appellate court’s interpretation of the relevant statute at issue in the case.
“We hold that knowingly breaching the restricted area suffices, even without knowing the basis of the restriction — here, the presence of Vice President Pence at the Capitol on January 6,” the opinion by Circuit Judge Nina Pillard reads. “Congress intended to criminalize trespasses endangering Secret Service protectees regardless of the trespasser’s awareness of the basis for Congress’s authority to regulate them. And a contrary interpretation would impair the Secret Service’s ability to protect its charges.”
In a ruling against Griffin, however, the court did not just reject the defense’s argument. They also rejected a mens era – mental state– requirement alltogether.
The majority said applying such a requirement “would pointlessly hinder the Secret Service’s ability to defend national leaders from would-be assassins and encumber the prosecution of persons whose knowing trespasses endanger persons under Secret Service protection.”
In dissent, Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas said the rationale advanced by the majority was actually an argument in favor of retaining a highly specific mental state requirement.
October 22, 2024: CNN Politics reported: “January 6 riot condition of ‘Cowboys for Trump” founder is upheld in precedent-setting case” It as written by Katelyn Polantz.
The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday upheld the conviction of the Cowboys for Trump fonder who entered the restricted area of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, saying rioters didn’t have to know the Secret Service was protecting then-Vice President Mike Pence inside when they breached the area.
The case is among a handful that tested the foundational approach the Justice Department took to prosecute hundreds of Capitol rioters, and the decision has been long-awaited since it was argued last December by those handling cases coming through the DC federal court.
It also strengthens federal protection the Secret Service can offer, by defining more clearly the law around trespassing in areas where public officials are being protected.
“The basis of the Secret Service’s authority to prevent access to designated areas for the safety of its protectees … need not be in the mind of the trespasser,” DC Circuit Judge Nina Pillard wrote in the opinion Tuesday.
The unsuccessful challenge to the law was brought by Couy Griffin, a New Mexico local official who organized a group called Cowboys for Trump, who jumped a stone wall outside the Capitol to board the inauguration stage. Griffin was convicted of two misdemeanors, including the trespassing change, and was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a year of supervised release.
“In [Griffin’s] view, the statute also requires proof that he knew why the Capitol grounds were so restricted when he entered or remained there — i.e. that a Secret Service protectee was or would be temporarily visiting the Capitol grounds. We decline to adopt such a rule,” Pillard wrote in a 2-1 opinion. “Griffin’s approach would surely hinder the Secret Service’s capacity to handle the full range of potential threats.”
It’s possible Griffin continues to fight his trespass charge with further appeals, including potentially to the US Supreme Court, which has shown interest in reinterpreting the law around the Capitol riot.
Griffin previously asked the Supreme Court to hear a different legal challenge he brought related to January 6, following his removal from an elected public office. A judge jettisoned Griffin from his role as a New Mexico county commissioner, and the high court declined to hear his case seeking reinstatement.
An attorney for Griffin from the federal public defender service didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Trump appointee dissents
The three-judge panel had one dissenter, Judge Greg Katsas, a Trump appointee. Judge Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee, sided with Pillard, an Obama appointee, in the majority opinion.
In his dissent Katsas said he believed prosecutors should have had to prove Griffin knew the seriousness of the protected area where he was trespassing and that Pence could be there, in addition to proving that he knew he was crossing into a prohibited area.
“Needless to say, a trespass that threatens the life or safety of the President or Vice President is substantially more culpable than a simple trespass consisting of nothing more than knowingly entering an area ‘posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted,” Katas wrote.
“Trespassers unaware that someone like the President or Vice President is present are much less likely to pose a threat to those officials than are individual who knowingly trespass into an area restricted to protect them,” the judge added.
Katas noted among the 470 trespassing convictions of January 6 rioters that prosecutors have secured, trial court judges in DC split on how much those rioters had to know of Pence’s presence at the Capitol.
September 6, 2022: NBC News reported: “Cowboys for Trump co-founder barred from public office over Jan. 6” It was written by Summer Concepcion.
A New Mexico judge ordered the co-founder of Cowboys for Trump removed from public office Tuesday over his presence at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
State District Judge Francis Mathew removed Otereo County Commissioner Cuoy Griffin from his elected position “effective immediately” and banned him from seeking further public office, citing the 14th Amendment’s clause barring those who have take oaths to uphold the Constitution from holding federal or state office if they have engaged “in insurrection or rebellion.”
“Due to his disqualification under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, defendant is constitutionally ineligible and barred for life from serving as a ‘Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President’, or from “hold[ing] any office, civil or military, under the United States, or any State,’ including his current office as an Otero County Commissioner,” Matthew wrote.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and several New Mexico-based law firms represented a group of state residents in the lawsuit to remove Griffin as county commissioner.
Griffin, who has espoused false claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, was convicted in federal court this year of a misdemeanor for entering the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, without going inside. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days and given credit for time served.
Griffin was the second defendant to go to trial in connection with the Capitol attack after his arrest in January 2021, weeks after supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 election amid Trump’s refusal to concede.
Griffin, who faced misdemeanor charges, represented himself in a two-day bench trial. He made headlines at the start of the trial this year for ditching his plans to ride a horse to the courthouse. Griffin claimed that he abandoned the plan because h wanted to respect the court and didn’t want to create a “spectacle.” He instead showed up with a truck with “COWBOYS FOR TRUMP” -branded horse trailer attached.
Upon walking into the courthouse in March, Griffin insisted that the metal police barricade he climbed upon on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was actually a step.
“That was a step,” Griffin claimed. “It was a meta step. I used it as a step … You can call it a barricade. I call it a step.”
October 22, 2024: KSBY Action News 8 reported: “Jan. 6 riot conviction of “Cowboys for Trump” founder upheld in president-setting case.” It was written by Katelyn Polantz.
The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday upheld the conviction of the Cowboys for Trump founder who entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying rioters didn’t have to know the Secret Service was protecting then-Vice President Mike Pence inside when they breached the area.
The case is among a handful that tested the foundational approach the Justice Department took to prosecute hundreds of Capitol rioters, and the decision has been long-awaited since it was argued last December by those handling cases coming through the D.C. federal court.
It also strengthens federal protection the Secret Service can offer, by defining more clearly the law around trespassing in areas where public officials are being protected.
“The basis of the Secret Service’s authority to prevent access to designated areas for the safety of its protectees … need not be in the mind of a trespasser,” DC Circuit Judge Nina Pillard wrote in the opinion Tuesday.
The unsuccessful challenge to the law was brought by Couy Griffin, a New Mexico local official who organized a group called Cowboys for Trump, who jumped a stone wall outside the Capitol to board the inauguration state. Griffin was convicted of two misdemeanors, including the trespassing charge, and was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a year of supervised release.
“In [Griffin’s] view, the statute also requires proof that he knew why the Capitol grounds were so restricted when he entered or remained there — i.e., that a Secret Service protect was or would be temporarily visiting the Capitol grounds. We decline to adopt such a rule,” Pillard wrote in the 2-1 opinion. “Griffin’s approach would surely hinder the Secret Service’s capacity to handle the full range of potential threats.”
It’s possible Griffin will continue to fight his trespass charge with further appeals, including potentially to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has shown interest in reinterpreting the law around the Capitol riot.
Griffin previously asked the Supreme Court to hear a different legal challenge he brought to Jan. 6, following his removal from an elected public office. A judge jettisoned Griffin from his role as a New Mexico county commissioner, and the high court declined to hear his case seeking reinstatement.
An attorney for Griffin from the federal public defender’s service didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Trump appointee dissents
The three-judge panel had one deserter, Judge Greg Katsas, a Trump appointee. Judge Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee, sided with Pillard, an Obama appointee, in the majority opinion.
In his dissent, Katsas said he believed prosecutors should have to prove Griffin knew the seriousness of the protected area where he was trespassing and that Pence could be there, in addition to proving that he knew he was crossing a prohibited area.
“Needless to say, a trespass threatened the life or safety of the President or Vice President is substantially more culpable than a simple trespass considering of nothing more than knowing entering an area ‘posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted,” Katsas wrote.
“Trespassers unaware that someone like the President or Vice President is present are much less likely to post a threat to those officials than are individual who knowingly trespass into an area restricted to protect them,” the judge added.
Katsas noted that among the 470 trespassing conviction of January 6 rioters that prosecutors have secured, trial court judges in D.C. split on how much those rioters had to know of Pence’s presence at the Capitol.