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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.

Former Texas Police Officer

December 10, 2021: Houston Public Media reported: “Former HPD officer sentenced to 45 days in jail for his role in the U.S. Capitol insurrection.” It was written by Lucio Vasquez.

A former Houston police officer on Friday was sentenced to 45 days in jail for his involvement in the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Eighteen-year HPD veteran and Richmond resident Tam Dinh Pham Pham was arrested on January 20 and initially charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

On Sept 20, Pham entered an agreement, pleading guilty to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

In an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Pham was accused of entering the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot after attending President Donald Trump’s rally in the morning.

Investigators say Pham admitted to climbing over fallen-over fences and passed through barricades as he made his way inside. Pham told investigators that he stayed inside the building for about 10 to 15 minutes before exiting, according to court records.

Police say Pham initially denied entering the Capitol building, but backtracked after photos and videos of what appeared to show Pham inside the building were found in his phone’s “recently deleted” photo album.

December 10, 2021: WUSA9 posted: “Despite ‘inspiring’ immigrant story, former Houston Police officer gets 45 days in jail for Capitol riot.” It was written by Eric Flack, Jordan Fischer, and Stephanie Wilson.

In what appeared to be to be a very close call for a federal judge, former Houston Police Officer Tam Dihn Phan was sentenced to 45 days in prison for his conviction on a misdemeanor charge from the January 6 Capitol riot.

“You added an air of legitimacy to what happens that day because you are a police officer,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelley told Pham.

Pham told WUSA “no comment” as he walked out of the federal courthouse after his sentencing Friday. He will have to self-surrender in his home state of Texas to serve his prison time.

A request from Pham’s attorney, Nicole Hochglaube, to have Pham spend 45 days in home incarceration instead of prison was denied by Kelley. Hochglaube said they respect the judge’s sentence.

“I think the judges have an important responsibility to weigh the sentencing issues, which the judge did,” Hochglaube said. “Mr. Pham is looking forward to serving his sentence and getting it behind him.”

Pham is seen in photos and videos spending about 20 minutes inside the Capitol during the Capitol riot. Questioned a week later by the FBI, Pham initially lied about being inside the Capitol building. Investigators checked his phone and found pictures taken inside the Capitol in the “deleted photos” folder of his device.

Pham, an 18-year veteran patrol officer with Houston Police, resigned his position shortly after that FBI interview — just two year shy of qualifying for a pension. In court, Hochglaube told the judge the Vietnamese man moved to the U.S. penniless in 1991 and loved the country that helped him to build a life and a career.

Pham broke down in tears as he addressed Kelly before sentencing.

“The day I was on the news my sister in Vietnam called and said the whole village watched me. I lost my reputation and my career and brought shame on my family especially my children,” Pham said. “The U.S. has given me so many opportunities. I’m so sorry for what I did.”

Kelley told Pham he strongly considered giving him probation, noting that, overall, he played a minor role in the riot and lost his job and pension as a consequence. But Kelly was bothered by Pham’s seeming unwillingness to take full responsibility for his actions.

Pham repeatedly told the court he “stupidly followed people in the Capitol.”

Kelley said as a police officer, Pham knew he was breaking the law.

“Your immigrant story is inspiring. I have no doubt you love this country,” Kelley said. “But you violated your sworn duties to uphold the Constitution and you added an air of legitimacy to what happened that day because you are a police officer.”

Pham will have to pay $500 in restitution and a $1,000 fine in addition to his prison sentence.”

January 19, 2021: KHOU-11 posted: A federal judge set bond Thursday at $50,000 for the former Houston police officer accused of taking part in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot.

The judge also ordered Tam Dihn Pham to surrender his U.S. and Vietnam passports and to not have any communication with law enforcement and anyone who is a victim or witness in the case.

Pham turned himself in on Wednesday, according to his attorney.

Pham is charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and unlawfully entering a restricted building. He’s expected to be released after appearing before a federal magistrate.

According to a federal warrant, Pham initially denied he was part of the pro-Trump mob the stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. But FBI agents say he confessed when they found deleted cell phone photos of him inside the building.

Attorney Nicole DeBorde said Pham is cooperating and “feels a great deal of shame for what happened” and believes President Joe Biden won the election, unlike other rioters.

“He went to see the last speech that President (Donald) Trump was giving and then ultimately ended up getting swept up in the crowd that moved from the speech down the mall to the Capitol,” DeBorde said.

Deborde said Pham wants to disassociate himself from what took place.

“I want to make it clear that Mr. Pham is a very devout Buddhist and is a very peaceful man,” she said.

In a statement, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Pham’s record while serving on HPD will be scrutinized.

“We are also auditing arrests made by this former officer to ensure there are no irregularities, to include the review of his body worn camera footage related to his arrests,” the statement said. “While our community and members of our department are understandably upset about this breach of trust, all should be heartened by our swift, decisive, and transparent action.”

The investigation into Pham’s actions at the Capitol began after Acevedo received a tip.

During an interview at his Richmond home, Pham told FBI agents he went to Washington D.C. on a “business trip” with his wife and a friend. He said he went to the Trump rally to “see history.”

He admitted he followed the crowd to the Capitol, climbing over downed fences and going around barricades, according to the document.

While inside the building, Pham said “he looked at historical art” and took photos and videos.

FBI agents say he gave them permission to digitally copy those photos and videos.

One photo shows Pham standing next to a statue and under a Trump flag with an expletive. Others show him with the Capitol Rotunda in the background.

“The metadata associated with each of these photographs indicate that they were created on January 6, 2021 between 2:50 and 2:55 p.m., the document states.

Five people died during the riot, including a Capitol police officer.

Pham was placed on administrative leave last week and later resigned.

Attorney Nicole DeBorde’s full statement:

“DeBorde says Pham has been fully cooperative, speaking with agents, and is expected to go before a magistrate in federal court IN HOUSTON soon (she didn’t know day or time) but will ultimately face charges in federal court in D.C. DeBorde says Pham is a quiet man, has a strong Buddhist faith, and feels a great deal of shame for what happened, as well as sad and ‘wishes he hadn’t been there.” DeBorde also says Pham believes Joe Biden won the election, and wishes him well. DeBorde also notes the charges Pham faces are-despite the extraordinary circumstances- are basically federal misdemeanors.

January 19, 2021: The Texas Tribune reported: “Federal officials charge former Houston Police officer for participating in U.S. Capitol riot” It was written by Duncan Agnew.

Federal agents have charged the former Houston police officer who allegedly joined a violent mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol with knowingly entered a restricted government building and engaging in disruptive and disorderly conduct, according to media reports Tuesday. An affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Amie C. Stemen named the previously unidentified officer as Tam Dinh Pham.

In a press conference last week, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo sad he had notified federal authorities about Pham’s presence at the Capitol riot after seeing Facebook photos linking Pham to the pro-Trump supporters. Pham then agreed to meet with FBI agents at his home in Richmond on Jan. 12.

According to the affidavit published by media organizations, Pham told the agents that he had traveled to D.C. from Houston on Jan. 5 for his wife’s business trip. He initially denied entering the Capitol, but admitted to attending the Trump rally earlier in the day.

However, federal officers found photos of Pham standing in the Capitol rotunda in the deleted photos section of his phone. One agent warned Pham about making any false statements, and Pham agreed to cooperate for the rest of the investigation.

Pham also denied being a member of any far-right social media groups that had advertised the Jan. 6 rally, saying that he learned about the gathering on Facebook and attended because he wanted to “see history,” court documents show. After the president’s speech to the crowd that morning, he followed others to the Capitol, eventually climbing over toppled fences and barricades along the way. The photographs on Pham’s phone place him in the rotunda between 2:50 and 2:55 p.m. Eastern Time on Jan. 6.

Pham told FBI agents that he spent about 15 minutes inside the Capitol where “he looked at historical art on the walls and took photographs and videos inside.”

Acevedo announced last Thursday that Pham had resigned pending the federal investigation.

Since last week, political news site The Appeal has been tracking law enforcement officers who participated in the pro-trump riot that left five people dead. As of Tuesday, the site has identified over 30 offers from departments around the country who joined the mob at the Capitol.

The Washington Post also reported that ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, federal authorities are currently in the process of screening troops from the National Guard for any connections for extremist groups, a choice that Gov. Greg Abbott quickly decried on Twitter.

“This is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard,” Abbott tweeted. “No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard. I authorized more than 1,000 to go to D.C. I’ll never do it again if they are disrespected like this.”

As part of this security screening process, officials have removed 12 members of the National Guard from helping secure Biden’s inauguration, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. All 12 troops either had links to far-right extremist groups, or had posted violent or extreme views on online platforms. It’s not know what units the 12 members served in.

June 23, 2023: WUSA9 posted: “Rioter among first to enter US Capitol sentenced to 45 years in prison.” It was written by Jordan Fischer and Stephanie Wilson.

In what appeared to be a very close call for a federal judge, former Houston Police Officer Tam Dion Pham was sentenced to 45 days in prison Friday for his conviction on a misdemeanor charge from the January 6, Capitol riot.

“You added an air of legitimacy to what happened that day because you are a police officer,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelley told Pham.

Pham told WUSA9 “no comment” as he walked out the federal courthouse after his sentencing Friday. He will have to self-surrender in his home state of Texas to serve his prison time.

A request from Pham’s attorney, Nicole Hochglaube, to have Pham spend 45 days in home incarceration instead of prison was denied by Kelley. Houchglaube said they resect the judge’s sentence.

“I think the judges have an important responsibility to weigh the sentencing issues, which this incarceration instead of prison was denied by Kelley. Hochglaube, to have Pham spend 45 days in home incarceration instead of prison was denied by Kelley. Hochglaube said they respect the judge’s sentence.

“I think the judges have an important responsibility to weigh the sentencing issues, which this judge did not,” Hochglaube said. “Mr. Pham is looking forward to serving his sentence and getting it behind him.”

Pham is seen in photos and videos spending about 20 minutes inside the Capitol during the Capitol riot. Questioned a week later by the FBI, Pham initially lied about being inside the Capitol building/ Investigators checked his phone and found pictures taken inside the Capitol in the “deleted photos” folder of his device.

Pham, an 18-year veteran patrol officer with the Houston Police, resigned his position shortly after that FBI interview — just two years shy of qualifying for a pension. In court, Hochglaube told the judge the Vietnamese man moved to the U.S. penniless in 1991 and loved the country that helped him build a life and a career.

Pham broke down in tears as he addressed Kelley before sentencing.

Pham repeatedly told the court he “stupidly followed people in the Captol.”

Kelley said as a police officer, Pham knew he was breaking the law.

“Your immigrant story is inspiring. I have no doubt you love this country,” Kelley said. “But you violated your sworn duties to uphold the Constitution and you added an air of legitimacy to what happened that day because you are a police officer.”

Pham will have to pay $500 in restitution and a $1,000 fine in addition to his prison sentence.

Colorado Man Asked Judge To Distance Himself From Other Insurrectionists

December 9, 2021: WUSA9 posted: “Alleged Insurrection from Colorado wants out of jail to get away from other accused insurrectionists” It was written by Erin Powell.

A Coloradan accused of violence during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has asked to be released from jail to distance himself from other accused insurrectionists.

Robert Gieswein, of Woodland Park, petitioned the court in the week before Thanksgiving asking for reconsideration of his status before trial. Court documents say Gieswein and others arrested after the events on Jan. 6 are “vulnerable to radicalization” by remaining together.

…”Mr. Gieswein, a very young man who came to the District alone, is now trapped in a highly charged environment that could potentially exert undue influence on his thinking, and may eventually create pressure on him to conform, or to allow others’ political narratives to drive his thinking and decision-making,” his lawyers said.

In a handwritten letter to the judge, Gieswein himself said the would like to be released to live with his godparents to help his family financially and separate himself from the environment.

“That fact is that January 6 was one crazy day with many elements, and I will never put myself into a situation like that again,” he wrote. “… to spend every day in here like Groundhog’s Day … It is natural in this environment for the conversation always to turn to January 6, and for us to look to each other for strength.

Geiswein is accused of attacking police and spraying them with a chemical during the attempted coup that happened as Congress was set to certify the results of the presidential election He’s accused of being one of the first rioters to enter the capitol, dressed in military gear and carrying a baseball bat.

In court documents, Gieswein’s attorneys also raised a concern about a prison incident in which inmates allegedly got sick after guards use an irritant spray to subdue another inmate.

A hearing to consider his request hasn’t been scheduled yet.

June 23, 2023: United States Attorney’s Office District of Columbia posted: Colorado Man Sentenced For Assault On Law Enforcement

Defendant Assaulted Numerous Officers with an Aerosol Irritant

A Colorado man was sentenced to prison today for assaulting law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the action of others disrupted a joint session the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes retailed to the 2020 presidential election.

Robert Gieswein, 26, of Woodland Park, Colorado, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden ordered 36 months of supervised release.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Gieswein encountered a small group of Proud Boys in downtown Washington, D.C. Gieswein was dressed in a camouflage paramilitary kit, and he was carrying a baseball bat. These individuals invited Gieswin to stay with them throughout the day.

At some point, one of the Proud Boys members gave Gieswein a piece of orange duct tape on his helmet for the purpose of identifying him as a “friendly.” Gieswein walked with the small group of Proud Boys to the area surrounding the Washington Monument, where he encountered a large group of individuals who identified as Proud Boys members, as well as others.

Shortly after 10 a.m., Gieswein marched with the group of Proud Boys from the Washington Monument to the Capitol. After marching with the Proud Boys for nearly three hours, Gieswein arrived at the Peace Monument shortly before 1:00 p.m. A large mob, including the defendant, rushed into the restricted area with other rioters in, among other things, pushing on a barricade held by police that they were using to set a line between themselves and the rioters.

Gieswein was stopped by a man with a microphone and asked how he was doing. In response, Gieswein stated, among other things, that “this” was “crazy,” and that he “would die for this.” Asked what the solution was to “this right here,” Gieswein stated, to “execute these fascists.” Moments prior to making the statement, the defendant threw a water bottle at a line of police officers.

Shortly before 2:00 p.m., the crowd pushed up the stairs under the Inauguration scaffolding that led from the west plaza to the upper west terrace, and Gieswein joined in this push. At the top of the stairs, the defendant sprayed an aerosol irritant at three members of the U.S. Capitol Police, who were attempting to prevent the crowd from further advancing toward the Capitol building.

At approximately 2:34 p.m., the defendant sprayed his aerosol substance at a group of officers who were in the processor arresting another rioter. At least one officer was hit by the spray and experienced a bodily injury. In response, officers attempted to arrest Gieswein, and a scuffle ensued. Gieswein attempted to push at least one officer.

Inside the Rotunda, shortly after 3:00 p.m., Gieswein participated with other rioters in pushing against a group of police officers who were trying to prevent rioters from advancing up a hallway that led to the House Speaker’s office. Gieswein and others were unable to break through the line of officers and were pushed back into the Rotunda. Shortly thereafter, the defendant exited the Capitol.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

This case was investigated by the FBI Denver Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Gieswein as #10 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 20 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

April 20, 2022: Law & Crime posted: “Judge Warns Lawyer for Man Accused of Assaulting Police on Jan. 6: Your Client’s ‘Mouthing Off” Won’t End Well.” It was written by Marisa Sarnoff.

After a Colorado man accused of assaulting law enforcement on Jan. 6 indignantly disrupted his pretrial proceedings about his “First Amendment right” to speak on his own behalf, a federal judge informed his attorney that his client’s protections do not extend to ranting out of turn in a courtroom.

Accused police assailant Robert Gieswein “will be back in a loci in a second if he keeps mouthing off,” Senior U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan warned.

Already jailed pending trial, Gieswein faces multiple felony charges, including assaulting police officers, civil disorder, and obstruction of an official proceeding. Decked out in military-style gear including a helmet, goggles, and a tactical vest, Geiswein allegedly entered the Capitol through a broken window.

He allegedly sprayed law enforcement with a chemical spray and brandished a baseball bat as he and other supporters of Donald Trump overran police and swarmed the Capitol building a Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.

“Everyone in a Democratic Country Is Impacted by Terrorists Storming The Capitol”

According to Gieswein’s lawyer, Ann Mason Rigby, residents in the District of Columbia feel “victimized” and “targeted” by what happened on Jan. 6, and they are more invested in the outcome of Gieswein’s trial because “they know that the next Jan. 6” would also likely take place in the capital. Rigby made that point in seeking a change of venue for her client’s trial.

“Hundreds would say this was an attack on democracy, period, whether you live in D.C. or whether you live in Colorado or whether you live in Hawaii,” Sullivan said, explaining the government’s position. “So pursuant to your theory everyone in the country would be precluded from presiding over this case. There wouldn’t be a fair locale.”

“That is the government’s theory”, Rigbly agreed.

“It’s not far-fetched, Sullivan replied, adding: “Where in the continental U.S. or Hawaii can Mr. Gieswein get a fair trial, if not in D.C.?”

“In a city where a jury will not be made up of people who were directly impacted by Jan. 6,” Rigby started to reply.

“But the theory is that everyone in a democratic country is impacted by terrorists storming the Capitol,” interrupted Sullivan, a Bill Clinton appointee. “That is the government’s theory. The argument is this was the worst assault on democracy since the War of 1812.”

At this point, as Sullivan and Rigby were talking over each other, Gieswein jumped into the exchange.

“Your honor, I object to all of those comments there,” Geiswein replied.

After Sullivan said Gieswein “mouthing off” would land him behind bars, Gieswein reminded the judge that he was already incarcerated. Sullivan urged Rigby to talk to her client and cautioned Gieswein once again against speaking out in court.

“You have an excellent lawyer speaking for you,” Sullivan said.

“You’ve Got to Get a Hold of Yourself”

The judge softened his tone somewhat later in the hearing, telling Gieswein that he could end up hurting his own case.

“Trust me, Mr. Gieswein, if the case remains here — and I’m inclined to let it remain here — it’s going to be fair,” Sullivan said. “You’re going to have to get a hold of ourself. I don’t want any outburst during trial. I don’t want you to prejudice yourself before a jury that’s been selected.”

“I just feel I would like to speak in my case,” Gieswein replied. “I’m the defendant, I have a right to speak.”

“As smart as you are, you are not a lawyer, and you have these two brilliant lawyers representing you,” Sullivan said, referring to Rigby and Elizabeth Ann Mullin, who both work for the office of the federal public defender. “I have a job too, to save you from yourself,” Sullivan added.

“You’re not going to prejudice me,” the judge told the defendant. “You start exhibiting this conduct in front of a jury and you know, it’s not good. It’s not good for your presentation … Let your attorneys work for you. They’re brilliant. They’re hard working. They file motions for you at 10 or II:00 at night. That’s their job.”

Gieswein’s trial is set to start on October 24, having been continued from its original February date.

The defendant’s outburst aside, Sullivan said he was not included to grant the motion on Wednesday, suggesting instead that he would have an expanded void dire process to ensure that a fair jury was selected. He also wanted to give prosecutors the chance to respond to survey data filed by the defense in support of its argument that D.C. jurors would be prejudiced against Gieswein.

The rest of Wednesday’s hearing did not generally go in the direction Gieswein had perhaps hoped, as Sullivan denied three of his motions: a motion to dismiss two of the assault counts against him, a motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that his right to a speedy trial has been violated, and a motion to reconsider detention.

Geiswein was arrested in January of 2021 and has been in custody since then.

Sullivan disagreed with the arguments from Geiswein’s lawyers that the indictment against him failed to specify facts and details to meet the elements of the offense. He also noted that several other judges overseeing Jan. 6 cases denied motions to dismiss on similar grounds.

Sullivan said that while Gieswein had presented new information regarding his detention — specifically, information about poor conditions in the D.C. jail where he is housed — the judge did not find that those circumstances had a material effect on whether Gieswein would pose a danger to the community if released.

Regarding the speedy trial motion, Sullivan found that the pace of Gieswein’s case was not due to purposeful delay, or bad faith, and therefore that his right to a speedy trial was not being violated.

Toward the end of the hearing, prosecutors noted that the government had offered Gieswein a plea deal that would allow him to drop all but of the assault charges against him. Geiswein rejected that offer.

June 23, 2023: WUSA9 posted: “Rioter among first to enter US Capitol sentenced to 4 years in prison” It was written by Jordan Fischer.

A Colorado man linked to the Three Percenters movement was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison for assaulting police and entering the U.S. Capitol among the first group of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.

Robert Gieswein, 26, of Divide, Colorado, appeared before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to be sentenced on Friday on two counts of assaulting a federal officer. As part of a plea agreement in March, prosecutor agreed to dismiss other charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, aiding and abetting destruction of federal property and entering and remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon.

According to a statement of facts read in court, Gieswein — who prosecutors have linked to an anti-government Three Percenters movement — met up with a group of Proud Boys at the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, 2021, and then marched to the Capitol – where he assaulted police with chemical irritant multiple times before becoming one of the first rioters to enter the building through a broken window. Geiswein was clad in paramilitary gear and carrying a baseball bat at the time.

Once inside, Gieswein assaulted several more officers, including one who was attempting to arrest another rioter. Police tried to place Gieswein in custody but he managed to escape their grasp.

Photo from inside the Ohio Clock Corridor just outside the Senate Chamber show Gieswein standing next to Proud Boy Dominic Pezolla, who was convicted of multiple felony charges earlier this year, and just behind Douglas Jensen, an Iowa QAnon believer who was sentenced to five years in prison last year on multiple felony counts.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to sentence Gieswein to five years in prison — approximately the same sentence McFadden had ordered for another defendant, Robert Morss of Pennsylvania, who was also convicted of assaulting police. McFadden said he thought the cases were comparable, but that Morss, a former U.S. Army Ranger, had exacerbating factor like wearing heavy body armor that did not apply to Geiswein.

McFadden instead sentenced Gieswein to 48 months, or four years, in prison. Gieswein will receive full credit for the approximately 29 months he’s already served in pre-trial detention since his arrest.

Before delivering his sentence, McFadden said he found it “disturbing” that Gieswein had headed straight to the Capitol on Jan. 6 without even attending former President Donald Trump’s speech. He said Geiswein’s conduct was among the most “violent, egregious and serious” of that day.

“I think in many ways your case is an exemplar of the dangers of a mob mentality,” McFadden said.

To date, more than 1,000 people have been sentenced in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Of those, nearly 350 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impending police, including approximately 109 who are accused of using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury.

June 23, 2023: 9News posted: “Colorado insurrectionist sentenced” It was written by Nate Lynn.

A Colorado man who assaulted law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Friday to four years in prison.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said 26-year old Robert Gieswein of Woodland Park was also sentenced to three years of supervised release as well as restitution of $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol after pleading guilty in March to two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.

According to court documents, Gieswein drove from Woodland Park to Washington. He was seen at public events in D.C. on Jan. 5, court documents say. In an interview on Jan. 5, Gieswein said he intended to keep President Donald Trump in power.

On the morning of Jan. 6, Gieswein met up with a group of Proud Boys members in downtown Washington, documents say, and marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol.

While he was in the West Plaza, Gieswein was stopped by someone with a microphone and asked how he was doing. Geiswein stated, among other things, that “this” was “crazy,’ and that he “would die for this,” court documents say. When he was asked what the solution was to “this right here,” Gieswein stated to “execute these fascists,” court documents state.

Gieswein was part of a group of people who pushed their way up the Capitol steps and met a line of police officers who were trying to keep people out of the Capitol, documents say. He then sprayed the officers with an aerosol irritant, according to court documents.

Gieswein was one of the first rioters to reach the Capitol and enter the building, according to the DOJ.

Documents say Gieswein sprayed the aerosol irritant at three more officers before accessing the Rotunda.

After police blocked Gieswein and others from accessing then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office, Gieswein left the Capitol building. He then drove back to Colorado, according to court documents.

He was indicted later that month after turning himself in to authorities in Teller County.

The DOJ said more than 1,000 people from nearly all 50 states have been arrested for crimes released to the insurrection, including nearly 350 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

June 23, 2023: The Colorado Sun posted: “Woodland Park man sentenced to 4 years in prison for assaulting U.S. Capitol police officer during Jan 6. riot”. It was written by Olivia Prentzel.

A Woodland Park man, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 riots, was sentenced Friday to four years in prison.

Robert Gieswein, 26, will be required to serve the three years of supervised release after his prison sentence and pay $2,000 in restitution, according to federal court documents.

Gieswein is the latest Coloradan to be sentenced for his involvement in the 2021 Capitol breach. More than a dozen people from Colorado were charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 attacks.

Last month, a leader of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The sentence for Stewart Rhodes was the longest so far in the federal investigation.

Gieswein faced four criminal charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon. He was accused of encouraging other rioters to break into the Capitol through a broken window, intimidating and assaulting Capitol police officers with a baseball bat and spraying aerosol from a black canister toward officers. Investigators say he was part of the Three Percenters, an extremist far-right militia group.

In March, Gieswein pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. Each assault charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of eight years in prison, in addition to financial penalties, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

A judge sentenced him to four years of prison and three years of supervised release for each count, which he can serve concurrently, according to court documents.

Prosecutors say Gieswein allegedly borrowed a baseball bat from another rioter after he heard people in the crowd talking about potential violent counterprotestors planning to attack Donald Trump supporters, such as himself. He said he wore a protective, military-style vest because he knew rallies for the former president could become violent.

“Admittedly caught up in the emotions and energy of the moment and falling prey to mob mentality, Robert stopped thinking rationally and accepted a can of pepper spray by an unknown protestor,” court documents stated. “Then, acting completely contrary to the character he displayed throughout his entire life up until this moment, Robert joined the large mob, and took aggressive actions toward some members of the police.”

Gieswein turned himself in at the Teller County jail Jan. 18, 2021, and has been in jail since.

In a memorandum filed by U.S. District Court last week, Giewswein’s attorneys wrote that he “lives with great regret for his actions and has accepted full responsibility for the crimes he committed on January 6, 2021.

In a handwritten letter, Gieswein said he had not planned to go to the Capitol or break the law on Jan. 6 after traveling from Woodland Park to D.C. to attend a rally for Trump.

“I was very emotional and I was not behaving appropriately,” he wrote. “It was not my intention to hurt the police. I was mad and wanted them out of the way.”

His attorney’s asked the judge to consider a time-served sentence followed by a period of supervised release.

The request was accompanied by letters from Gieswein’s mother and three friends, one of whom called him “one of the most empathic people I’ve ever met.”

“I made mistakes and I cannot explain why. I can say I am sorry and I am paying for it, Gieswein wrote to the judge. “I am so ready to get back to my mom and sister to care for them.”

June 27, 2023: Denver 7.com posted: “Colorado man sentenced for assaulting police during Jan. 6 attack on U.S Capitol. It was written by Stephanie Butzer.

A man from Woodland Park was sentenced to prison on Friday for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden sentenced Robert Gieswein, 26, to 48 months in prison for two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, plus 36 months of supervised release and $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Based on court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Gieswein was walking in downtown Washington, D.C. dressed in a camouflage paramilitary kit and carrying a baseball bat. He was approached by a small group of Proud Boys who invited him to stay with them for the day. One of them gave Gieswein a piece of orange duct tape to put on his helmet to signify that he was “a friendly,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gieswein walked with the Proud Boys to the Washington Monument, where a larger group of Proud Boys stood.

After 10 a.m., he marched with the group to the U.S. Capitol.

After nearly three hours of marching around the building, Gieswein arrived at the Peace Monument around 1 p.m. A large mob, including Gieswein, rushed the restricted area of the Capitol grounds and ultimately to the West Plaza. There, he and other rioters pushed on a police barricade, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“While in the West Plaza, Gieswein was stopped by a man with a microphone and asked how he was doing,” the U.S. Department of Justice said. “In response, Gieswein stated, among other things, that ‘this’ was ‘crazy,’ and that he ‘would die for this.’ Asked what the solution was to his ‘this right here,’ Gieswein stated, to “excuse these fascists,” according to the Department of Justice.

Shortly before 2 p.m., the crowd — including Gieswein — pushed up the stairs that led to the Upper West Terrace. At the top of the stairs, he sprayed an aerosol irritant at three members of the U.S. Capitol Police.

Gieswein continued to move with the crowd toward the Capitol building and encountered another line of officers trying to stop the group. Gieswein again sprayed his aerosol canister at the officers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

He was one of the first rioters to reach the façade of the building and saw the window next to the Senate Wing Door get breached around 2:13 p.m. He entered through that window. Around 2:29 p.m., he sprayed the aerosol at another group of officers.

He did this again at 2:34 p.m., as officers were arresting another rioter, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They tried to arrest him and he attempted to punch one of the officers. He then broke free of the officers.

At 3 p.m., he, along with other rioters, pushed against a group of officers who were trying to prevent the rioters from moving up toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. The group was pushed back into the Rotunda.

At this point, Gieswein left the Capitol.

He was indicted in late January 2021. He was ordered to stay in jail the same week.

He was sentenced on Friday.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Since the Jan. 6 attack, more than 1,000 people have been arrested in almost every state for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. Of those, 350 have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Gieswein is one of several Coloradans charged in connections with the Jan. 6 riot, and several others either traveled there from Colorado or were arrested in Colorado to face federal charges…

June 16, 2023: WUSA9 posted: “Judge Orders Former Oath Keepers, Latinos for Trump attorney restored to competency before trial”

A federal judge said Friday he would order former OathKeepers general counsel Kellye SoRelle restored to competency a week after the government and defense evaluators found she was not fit to stand trial.

SoRelle, an attorney and former Republican candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, was scheduled to begin trial next month with two members of the Oath Keepers militia. A federal grand jury indicted her in September on felony charges of conspiracy and obstruction for allegedly instructing members of the Oath Keeper, led by her then-boyfriend Stewart Rhodes, to destroy evidence after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. SoRelle, who served also served as counsel for Latinos for Trump, was on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, with Rhodes but did not enter the building.

Last week, both SoRelle’s attorney Horatio Aldredge and a Justice Department attorney informed U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta that separate evaluator hired by both parties had come to the conclusion SoRelle was not competent to stand trial. A report documenting the government’s evaluator’s findings was submitted to the court under seal this week. The specific nature of the findings was not disclosed.

On Friday, Metha said he would accept results from the evaluators and order SoRelle restored to competency. Both Aldredge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakozcy agreed their reading of the federal statute governing competency to stand trial — 18 U.S. Code 4241 — required SoRelle’s treatment to occur in an in-patient setting.

Although competency restoration typically occurs while in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, Metha, who has allowed SoRelle to remain out on personal recognizance since her arrest, was reluctant to order SoRelle detained.

He suggested parties explore other hospitalization options like St. Elizabeths Hospital in D.C. — although he questioned whether a non-D.C. resident would be able to receive treatment there. Aldredge said she was aware of a possible option in San Antonio, approximately an hour-and-a-half from SoRelle’s home in Texas. Within the Bureau of Prisons, the process normally takes up to four months to complete.

Metha ordered the parties to return for a status hearing in 60 days, and said he would change SoRelle’s conditions of release to require her to seek outpatient mental health treatment until a bed can be located for her at an in-patient facility.

SoRelle attended the telephonic hearing Friday via Zoom from what appeared to be the interior of a car, but did not speak during the proceeding.

Metha’s order means SoRelle will not appear alongside co-defendants Donavan Crowl and James Beeks at the trial scheduled to begin July 10. Both men face seven counts ranging from entering a restricted building to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding for their alleged roles in the Capitol riot.

To date, at least 21 members of the Oath Keepers militia have been convicted at trial or pleaded guilty to charges in connection with Jan. 6. Eight, including the militia’s finder Stewart Rhodes, have been convicted of seditious conspiracy. Only one, Michael “Whip” Green — the militias operations leader on Jan. 6 — has not been convicted of at least one felony count. Rhodes was sentenced last month to 18 years in prison.

August 21, 2024:The Associated Press reported: “Attorney for far-right Oath Keepers Extremist group pleads guilty Capitol riot charges” It was written by Michael Kunzelman.

An attorney who represented the far-right Oath Keepers pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges stemming from a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including members of the extremist group.

Kellye SoRelle, who was general counsel for the antigovernment group and a close associate of its founder, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17 by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C.

SoRelle, 45, of Granbury Texas, answered routine questions by the judge as he pleaded guilty to two charges: a felony court of obstructing justice and a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. The felony carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, but her estimated sentencing guidelines recommend a maximum of 16 months behind bars.

SoRelle was arrested in Junction, Texas, in September 2022. Here case remained suspended for months amid questions about her mental health.

More than a year ago, medical experts concluded that SoRelle was mentally incompetent to stand trial. In November 2023, she reported to a federal Bureau of Prisons facility for treatment. Last month, Mehta ruled that SoRelle had recovered to an extent that she could understand the nature of her charges and could assist in her defense.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is serving a 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating a plot to keep Donald Trump in the White House after the 2020 presidential election. After Rhodes’ arrest, SoRelle told media outlets she was acting as the president of the Oath Keepers in his absence.

SoRelle, a former Texas prosecutor, was photographed with Rhodes outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. As the riot erupted, she posted a chase message for the Oath Keepers that said, “We are acting like the founding fathers — can’t stand down. Per Stewart, and I concur.”

“Although SoRelle did not personally enter the Capitol Building on January 6, she understood the role those inside and outside the building, like herself, played in delaying the certification proceeding that had been taking place inside the Capitol,” a court filing accompanying he guilty plea.

The night before the riot, she joined Rhodes in meeting with other extremists group members in an underground garage in Washington, D.C The meeting also included former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence for his role in a separate plot to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden after the election.

During the trial for Rhodes and other Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy, jurors heard testimony that SoRelle had a romantic relationship with Rhodes.

SoRelle pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for encouraging others to destroy electronic evidence of their participation in the plot. Two days after the riot, Rhodes and SoRelle both sent messages from her cellphone encouraging Oath Keepers to delete any incriminating evidence.

She was indicted on other charges, including conspiring with Rhodes and other Oath Keepers to obstruct Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote. But she did not plead guilty to the conspiracy charge.

August 21, 2024: United States Attorney’s Office District of Columbia posted: “Texas Woman Pleads Guilty to Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach”

WASHINGTON – A Texas woman pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges related to her conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Her actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Kellye SoRelle, 45, of Grandbury, Texas, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of Justice — tampering with documents and a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta will sentence SoRelle on Jan. 17, 2025.

According to court documents, SoRelle was an affiliate of the Oath Keepers and the Oath Keepers’ founder and leader, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, and is an attorney who has previously worked as a prosecutor in Texas. In the days following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group, led by Stewart Rhodes began discussing the necessity of opposing the transition of power from President Donald J. Trump to President-Elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. This opposition extended to advocating for the use of force if necessary.

On Nov. 5, 2020, Rhodes sent a message to an encrypted group chat titled “Leadership intel sharing secured,” which included other key figures in the Oath Keepers organization, such as Kellye SoRelle. In his message, Rhodes emphatically declared, “We MUST refuse to accept Biden as a legitimate winner,” and further escalated the rhetoric by stating, “We aren’t getting through this without a civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body, spirit.”

While some members of the Oath Keepers distanced themselves from the group due to the increasingly violent and radical tone, like Kellye SoRelle, continued to collaborate closely with Rhodes. SoRelle, a Texas-based attorney who had become increasingly involved with the Oath Keepers, worked with Rhodes on various projects aimed at opposing the election results.

On Jan. 3, 2021, SoRelle traveled with Rhodes from Texas to Washington D.C., where they planned to be part of the Oath Keeper’s operation on January 6. During the journey, Rhodes purchased or picked up over $20,000 worth of firearms-related equipment. By morning of January 6, SoRelle and Rhodes were in the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol, ready to take part in the days events.

As the riot at the Capitol began to unfold, SoRelle messaged the “Leadership intel sharing secured” group at around 1:31 p.m., declaring, “We are acting like the founding fathers — can’t stand down. Per Stewart, and I concur.” Rhodes, for his part, directed his Oath Keeper followers to the Capitol, leading to at least 20 member of the group breaching the building. At approximately 2:12 p.m., SoRelle, Rhodes, and another Oath Keeper affiliate entered the restricted areas of the Capitol grounds. Video footage captured the group passing barriers that had been set up by law enforcement to protect the Capitol.

As she entered the restricted area, SoRelle live-streamed a video to Facebook, expressing her support for the actions of the rioters and urging others not to be afraid. She described the scene as one of the “coolest damn things” she had ever witnessed and framed the riot as a necessary step to prevent the United States from descending into communism and tyranny. SoRelle continued to document the riot over Facebook live-stream as she moved around the Capitol building with Rhodes and the other Oath Keeper affiliate. The group eventually made their way to the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol, where they watched as rioters continued to stream into the building.

As they stood on the terrace, another Oath Keeper affiliate remarked that the people inside the Capitol “gotta be shitting their pants right now.” SoRelle laughed and agreed, while Rhodes responded with the Latin phrase “Sic temper tyrannis,” which means “Thus unto tyrants,” a phrase famously shouted by John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

After the events at the Capitol, SoRelle joined Rhodes and other Oath Keepers for a celebratory dinner. During the dinner, the group received word that law enforcement was either arresting or searching for individuals involved in the Capitol attack. SoRelle, and the others then left the restaurant, returned to their hotel, packed their belongings, and regrouped at a nearby gas station.

At the gas station, Rhodes turned off his cell phone and handed it to SoRelle, fearing it might be tracked by law enforcement. He then left with another Oath Keeper affiliates to delete any evidence of their involvement in the January 6, events. In a Signal group chat named DC Op: Jan. 6 21,” SoRelle wrote, “Please delete any information you’ve posted regarding the DC op and your involvement. This thread will be deleted when possible.” She also relayed instructions from Rhodes to “clean up all your chats.”

SoRelle further directed: “YOU ALL NEED TO DELETE ANY OF YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT WHO DID WHAT,” explaining that only the comment authors could delete their posts. Oath Keeper members and affiliates complied, deleting messages, photographs, and videos from their devices that could serve as evidence of their participation in the Capitol attack.

The FBI arrested SoRelle on Sept. 1, 2022, in Junction, Texas.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western and Eastern Districts of Texas provided valuable assistance.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Dallas and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 43 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 50 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

Bedford County Man Charged With Assaulting Officer during breach of U.S. Capitol

August 18, 2021: WKRN.com reported: A Bedford County man has been arrested after federal investigators said he assaulted law enforcement during the breach at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Ronald Colton McAbee, a 27-year-old man from Unionville, was arrested Tuesday on federal charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers inflicting bodily injury.

McAbee has also been charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with deadly or dangerous weapon in connection with the riots in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6.

He made his initial appearance Tuesday in the Middle District of Tennessee.

No additional information was immediately released about McAbee’s arrest and the allegations against him.

Federal investigators said McAbee is one of more than 570 people arrested for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol.

February 29, 2024: WKRN reported: A man who was employed as a Middle Tennessee sheriff’s deputy when he assaulted police officers protecting the U.S. Capitol from a mob of Donald Trump supporters was sentenced on Thursday to nearly six years in prison.

Ronald Colton McAbee wore a bulletproof vest with two patches — one that said “SHERIFF” and another bering an insignia for the Three Percenters militia movement — when he stormed the Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021.

During a melee on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, McAbee dragged away an officer from a police line and punched another officer who tried to stop him.

McAbee said he never intended to “strike fear or be part of the chaos” on Jan.6, 2021. Neither officer assaulted by McAbee attended his sentencing.

“I wish they were here so I can tell them I’m sorry,” McAbee said before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced him to five years and 10 months behind bars.

“I take attacks on law enforcement very, very, seriously, as I suspect you did before that day,” the judge told McAbee.

McAbe will get credit for the two years and seven months that he already has served in jail since his arrest.

Prosecutors recommended sentencing McAbee to 12 years and seven months in prison. Only six Jan. 6 riot defendants have received a longer prison sentence than that.

McAbee expressed condolences to the families of rioters and police officers who died on Jan. 6, 2021, and the days that followed. He performed CPR on Rosanne Boyland, a Georgia woman in the mob who died during the riot.

“I’m sorry for all the families that lost someone,” McAbee said.

However, the judge noted that McAbee appeared to be proud of his violent “exploits” on Jan. 6, 2021. A day after the riot, McAbee smiled and held a newspaper with the headline “INSURRECTION” as he posed for a photograph with a friend, prosecutors said.

McAbee was on medical leave from Williamson County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee when he and a friend drove to Washington, D.C., and attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021.

McAbee wore brass knuckle gloves and a shirt bearing a Three Percenters emblem and slogans. Three Percenters refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British.

After watching rioters clash with police outside the Capitol, McAbee joined the fray near a tunnel leading to an entrance on the Lower West Terrace. Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wayte was on his back on the ground when McAbee grabbed one of his legs and dragged him away from his fellow officers.

“When other officers attempted to assist their fallen colleagues, McAbee interfered wit their efforts, cursing a theme and striking one of them,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

McAbee then lifted the officer up by his torso, causing him to cry out in pain before they sled together down a set of steps. He pinned the officer down for more than 25 seconds as other rioters attacked him and fired pepper spray at his face.

Defense attorney Benjamin Schiffelbein said McAbee was trying to alert police when he “briefly moved” Wayte and pointed at Boyland’s body.

“Mr. McAbee placed himself in an impossible situation: stand and watch as a woman lay dying in front of officers who did not notice her, or try to help her,” Schiffelbein wrote in a court filing.

A medical examiner’s office later determined that Boyland died from acute amphetamine intoxication.

After his attacks on police, McAbee “sought camaraderie and favor” from other officers still fighting off the mob.

“Can I get in?” he asked, tapping the “sheriff” path on his vest. “I can’t go back that way, man.”

Two men charged with McAbee were also convicted pf assailants Tom Wayte, whose injuries prevented him from returning for work for months. Justin Jersey, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. The other, Clayton Ray Mullins, was sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment.

McAbee previously served as a deputy for Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia before leaving in November 2020 to join the Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee. McAbee worked for the Williamson County Sheriff’s office until March 23, 2021, according to prosecutors.

More than 1,300 people have been charged with Capitol-riot related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced with roughly two thirds receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Man Arrested After Sale of Metals to a Scrapyard

June 12, 2023: WUSA9 posted: “Metal sale leads to arrest of Indiana man on Capitol riot charges”. It was written by Jordan Fischer.

An Indiana man now charged with misdemeanors for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was identified in part thanks to his sale of metals to a scrapyard.

William Lance Wilkerson was arrested last week in Mitchell, Indiana, on four misdemeanor counts for allegedly unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

According to charging documents unsealed in federal court in D.C. on Monday, Wilkerson can be seen in surveillance footage entering the building through the Senate Wing doors at approximately 3:24 p.m., — a little more than half an hour after the second breach of that entrance. Investigators say Wilkerson then made his way to the Crypt before leaving the building approximately five minutes later.

While inside, Wilkerson was captured both on surveillance video and, as shown by images included in he charging documents, a live video being broadcast by right-wing streamer Tim “Baked Alaska” Gionet, that has helped investigators to identify numerous defendants. Gionet was sentenced in January to 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Although Wilkerson is visible in Gionet’s stream, it was surveillance video taken at a scrapyard in Bloomington, Indiana, that resulted in his arrest. Under Indiana law, valuable metal dealers must verify a driver’s license when receiving scrap metals. According to the charging document, Wilkerson visited JB Salvage Inc. at least four times — including at least one time in December 2020 in which he wore the same green jacket he was wearing on Jan. 6. Wilkerson was then identified to the FBI by an acquaintance of several years.

Investigators also found Willerson’s Facebook account, where he had posed photos of himself at the Capitol on Jan. 6 along with comments indicating his presence. In one post on Jan 7., 2021, Wilkerson wrote, “Real patriots did infiltrate the capitol. I watched it happen. The media is all lies unless they were there.”

As of Monday afternoon, an initial appearance in Wilkerson’s case has not been set.

More than 1,000 defendants haven been charged in connection with the Capitol riot. Of those, more than 580 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial, including more than 430 defendants who have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.

June 14, 2023: FOX59 posted: “Facebook posts, scrap metal sale leads to Indiana man’s arrest for his role in Jan. 6 Capitol riots”

An Indiana man was arrested last week in Lawrence County for allegedly participating in the US Capitol riots after federal agents found him selling scrap metal.

William Lance Wilkerson, a 39-year-old Bedford man, was arrested by federal agents on Thursday, June 8, in Mitchell after an FBI investigation revealed he was likely at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., when over 2,000 stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021.

The FBI investigation into the Lawrence County resident began just two days after the Jan. 6 storming when on Jan. 8, 2021, agents learned of posts on Wilkerson’s Facebook page that indicated he participated.

The Facebook profile, which had the name “Wm Lance Wilkerson” had posed several photos in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, the FBI said. One of them was a selfie at the Washington Monument with the caption “I made it here showing my colors.”

Also on Jan. 6, the FBI said that Wilkerson made another post that read: “Standing up for your rights is also being part of the mass. I did my part today!”

The next day, on Jan. 7, 2021, the FBI said Wilkerson made another Facebook post directly discussing the Capitol riots. That post, provided by the US Justice Department, can be seen below:

“Real patriots did infiltrate the capitol. I watched it happen. The media is all lies unless they were there.”

Other incriminating posts from Wilkerson’s alleged Facebook account that the FBI cited were images saying that “Americans Are Pissed” and the “The Declaration of Independence Says We Have the Right to Overthrow the Government.” The FBI said Wilkerson followed up the post by saying: “IF THAT’S THE CASE, I GUESS NOBODY BROKE THE LAW (rubbing chin emoji).”

A review of CCTV security footage from the Capitol and social media posts also showed a man alleged to be Wilkerson multiple times inside and outside of the federal building.

After searching a US database, FBI agents said they identified the owner of the account as a “William Lance Wilkerson” that resided at a home address in Bedford. When comparing the recovered footage from the Capitol with Wilkerson’s driver’s license photo, the FBI said they were a match.

Further research on Wilkerson showed that he previously visited a salvage yard in Bloomington. When reviewing the security footage from the salvage yard, agents found video of Wilkerson selling scrap metal in what appears to be the same jacket he wore to the US Capitol.

In addition to this evidence, the FBI said that the driver’s license was scanned when the man above sold the scrap metal matched Wilkerson’s. Furthermore, agents said several witnesses who knew Wilkerson said that he had “expressed an intent” to join a rally in Washington, D.C.

This years-long investigation into Wilkerson led the FBI filing the following charges against him:

• Knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority
• Disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building
• Disorderly conduct in a Capitol building
• Parade, demonstrate or picket in any of the Capitol buildings

Wilkerson was taken into custody by federal agents on June 8, 2023, at a residence in Mitchell, one day after a US Magistrate Judge in the nation’s capitol signed a warrant for his arrest.

November 20, 2023: Indiana Public Media reported: “Bedford man gets probation for role in Jan. 6 insurrection at U.S. Capitol” It was written by Patrick Beane

A Bedford man was sentenced to 24 months of probation and ordered to pay $510 in restitution and fees Monday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

William Lance Wilkerson, 38, was arrested in June and pled guilty in July to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, a violation of Title 40, Section 5104(e)(2)(g) of the U.S. code.

According to unsealed charging documents, Wilkerson was spotted in surveillance footage entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing doors at approximately 3:24 p.m. He then made his way to the Crypt (a large circular room below the rotunda) before leaving the building five minutes later.

Although Wilkerson was visible in a video stream of the attack, he wasn’t identified until late last year when he was seen in surveillance footage selling scrap metal at JB Salvage in Bloomington.

In one of four visits to the site, Wilkerson was wearing the same green jacket he was wearing on Jan. 6.

According to the FBI, Wilkerson posted several photos in Washington D.C., on Jan. 6 on his Facebook page. One of them was a selfie at the Washington Monument with the caption, “I made it here showing my colors.” In another post on Jan 7, he wrote. “Real patriots did infiltrate the capitol. I watched it happen. The media is all lies unless they were there.”

He was initially charged with four counts, but three were dropped in the plea agreement. Wilkerson agreed to 30 days incarceration in that deal, but on Monday, that was reduced to two years of probation, with conditions.

December 16, 2024: IndyStar reported: “These are the Indiana residents charged in Jan. 6 riot who could be pardoned by Trump” It was written by Sarah Nelson.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to pardon rioters accused in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol on his first day in office.

If he follows through, the move will affect at least 28 Hoosiers.

That’s how many Indiana residents have been charged in the massive investigation into the riot at the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which has resulted in more than 1,000 arrests nationwide. Among the Indiana arrestees, 21 have been sentenced. Trump’s promise has already resonated with eat least one of them, a Bloomington man who’s publicly voiced that he’s banking on Trump pardoning him for his crimes and didn’t show up to serve his time.

“I’m going to look at everything. We’re going to look at individual cases,” Trump pledged in his “Meet the Press” interview.

It remains unclear who Trump may pardon, such as whether potential pardons will be awarded to those charged with violent crimes.

William Lance Wilkerson – From: Bedford

Charging documents show Wilkerson’s Facebook comments, security camera images from the Capitol and cellphone records led to his arrest in the Jan. 6 riot.

Closed-circuit television footage captured six photographs of him inside the building wearing an olive-green jacket.

He was sentenced in November 2023 to two years of probation after pleading guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Patriot, Indiana, Woman Arrested In Capitol Riot

March 15, 2022: WISHTV.Com posted: “Patriot, Indiana woman arrested in Capitol riot” It was posted by Brady Gibson and Ashley Fowler.

Federal authorities have arrested a Patriot, Indiana, woman for her alleged role in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

The FBI says Nancy Barron, 46, surrendered to federal agents this morning on four charges related to the siege at the Capitol, which happened while lawmakers were attempting to certify the 2020 presidential election results.

Federal investigations say Barron contacted them on her own Jan. 7, 2021, to say she had been inside the Capitol.

The FBI says it found multiple photos and videos of Barron inside and outside the building.

In one selfie video that lasts several minutes, agents say Barron can be seen walking through the Capitol and approaching the House Chamber doors.

At another point in the view, Barron is seen walking up a set of stairs asking, “Where is the F****** Pelosi?” and “Is this Pelosi’s stuff down here?”

At another point in the video, Barron is seen walking up a set of stairs yelling, “F*** Nancy Pelosi and f*** Chuck Schumer!”

An FBI Agent claims Barron lied during her official interview, claiming she was pushed into the building and that she tried to find an exit as soon as she was inside.

Barron is accused of the following:

• Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds
• Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
• Disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building
• Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building

Federal prosecutors did not indicate that Barron had participated in any violence while inside.

May 2024: IndyStar reported: a federal judge sentenced Barron to three years on probation after a jury found her guilty of her charges in the Jan. 6 attack.

Investigators said Barron turned herself in after telling police she had entered the Capitol that day. She was then handed her numerous nonviolent charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or rounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

August 29, 2023: WISHTV.COM posted: “Jury convicts Patriot, Indiana woman in January 6 Trial” It was written by Brady Gibson.

A federal jury has convicted a Patriot, Indiana, woman for her role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The jury found Nancy Barron guilty on all charges in the verdict returned Monday.

Federal authorities arrested Barron in March 2022 on four charges, including disorderly or disrupted conduct in a Capitol building, entering or remaining in a restricted building, and parading demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building.

Investigators said Barron contacted them Jan. 7, 2021, one day after the mob stormed the Capitol and disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Barron admitted being inside the Capitol.

The FBI said it found multiple photos of Barron inside and outside the building.

In one video, she can be heard yelling “Go in” several times followed by “Charge” as rioters were trying breach the doors of the East Rotunda.

Another video on Facebook showed Barron smiling as she said “Made it in.”

At another point, Barron is seen in a video walking up a set of stairs yelling, “F… Nancy Pelosi and f…Schumer!”B

Barron was not charged with participating in any violent acts that day.

The judge in the case rejected Barron’s motions for a mistrial and for a directed verdict of acquittal.

Patriot is an Ohio River town of 200 residents that’s about an hours drive southwest of Cincinnati.

Indiana man arrested for assaulting Law Enforcement During January 6 riot

August 25, 2023: WISHTV reported: Federal agents arrested an Indiana man for assaulting police during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Curtis Tate, 32, of Jeffersonville, is also facing charges for civil disorder and destruction of government property.

Video shows Tate in restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol and using a metal baton to hit officers. It also shows him breaking a window, and throwing a speaker box, a broken table lamp, and a shoe at officers.

Police arrested Tate in North Carolina. That’s where he will make his first court appearance.

NEWS RELEASE: An Indiana man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement, related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

“Curtis Logan Tate, 32, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon, and destruction of government property. In addition to the felonies, Tate is charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and engaging in an act of physical violence in the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings.

“According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Tate attended a rally in Washington, D.C., and afterward made his way toward the U.S. Capitol building. A review of open-source video, body-work camera footage, and closed-circuit video showed Tate present at various locations in Washington, D.C., and in the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol grounds, including in the Lower West Terrace tunnel.

“At approximately 2:05 p.m., Tate is seen in body-worn camera videos from Metropolitan Police Department Officers (MPD) near the Lower West Terrace as he used a metal baton to strike an MPD officer in the hand. In response, an MPD officer sprayed Tate with pepper spray and can be heard warning another that Tate was wielding a baton. Tate later uploaded a video to a social media site depicting himself near Lower West Terrace holding a metal baton, which appears to be the same baton used to strike the MPD officer, with the caption: “POST 1ST MACING.’ During the video, Tate yelled “We’re tearing this motherfucker down!”

At approximately 2:43 p.m., Tate was outside the entrance to the Lower West Terrace tunnel. He arrived minutes after the area was first breached and entered the tunnel closely behind the initial group of rioters. Tate is later seen on Capitol CCTV footage inside the tunnel holding his cell phone above his head, consistent with using the phone to record video. At about 2:57 p.m., Tate is how inside the tunnel brandishing the metal baton above his head and charging towards the line of police officers protecting the entrance to the Capitol building. Tate then repeatedly struck a U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officer in the helmet with the metal baton. In response, a USCP officer pepper sprayed Tate, and he retreated.

“Later, at about 4:28, p.m., Tate is seen on publicly available video through a black speaker box and breaking a window located to the left of the tunnel entrance. Tate then threw a black speaker box and shoe struck MPD officers. Shortly after the above assaults, Tate is shown in publicly available receiving a broken table leg with a protruding screw through a broken window in the Capitol building. The window was the same window damaged by Tate earlier with the speaker box and now completely broke as a result of damage caused by Tate and others.

“Tate is shown in multiple publicly available videos and photographs taken by a photojournalist, navigating through the crowd and carrying the broken table leg toward the entrance to the tunnel. At approximately 4:34 p.m., Tate is shown in publicly available video throwing the broken table leg at police officers who were protecting the tunnel entrance.

“Later, at approximately 4:38 p.m., Tate is shown in publicly available assisting others carry a piece of lumber toward the entrance to the tunnel, and, at abut 5:01 p.m., Tate is shown in multiple publicly available videos throwing a floor lamp at police officers at near the tunnel.”

“Tate later gave an interview to a media outlet, in which he stated, ‘I would never hurt an officer. I come from a military background. I’m very respectful of our military and police… I know I didn’t hurt anybody… I’m not speaking her bold as brass, because you never know what can happen… but I’ve never, ever once hurt, or put my hands on an officer… I never did it. So, I’m not going to live the rest of my life in fear.’

“This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

“The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Indianapolis and Washington Field Officers, which identified Tate as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #119 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance provided by FBI Charlotte, U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

“In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals haven arrested in nearly 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

August 15, 2023: United States Attorney’s Office District of Columbia posted a press release titled: “Indiana Man Arrested for Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach”

Defendant Assaulted Police on West Terrace and in Tunnel with Baton and Thrown Object

An Indiana man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement, related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Curtis Logan Tate, 32, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon, and destruction of government property. In addition to the felonies, Tate is charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and engaging in a fact of physical violence in the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings.

Tate was arrested on Aug. 24, 2023, by the FBI in Wilmington, North Carolina, and will make his initial appearance in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Tate attended a rally in Washington, D.C., and afterward made his way toward the U.S. Capitol building. A review of open-source video, body-worn camera footage, and closed-circuit video shows Tate at various locations in Washington, D.C., and in the restricted area of the U.S Capitol grounds, including in the Lower West Terrace tunnel.

At approximately 2:05 p.m., Tate is seen in body-warn camera videos from Metropolitan Police Department Officers (MPD) near the Lower West Terrace as he used a metal baton to strike an MPD officer in the hand. In response, an MPD officer sprayed Tate with pepper spray and can be heard warning another officer that Tate was wielding a baton. Tate later uploaded a video to a social media site depicting himself near the Lower West Terrace holding a metal baton, which appears to be the same baton used to strike the MPD officer, with the caption: “POST 1ST MACING.” During the video, Tate yelled, “We’re tearing this motherfucker down!”

At approximately 2:43 p.m., Tate was outside the entrance to the Lower West Terrace tunnel. He arrived minutes after the area was first breached and entered the tunnel closely behind the initial group of rioters. Tate is later seen on Capitol CCTV footage inside the tunnel holding his cell phone above this head, consistent with using the phone to record video. At about 2:57 p.m., Tate is shown inside the tunnel brandishing the metal baton above his head and charging towards the line of police officers protecting the entrance to the Capitol building. Tate then repeatedly struck a U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officer in the helmet with the metal baton. In response, a USCP officer pepper sprayed Tate, and he retreated.

Later, at about 4:28 p.m., Tate is seen on publicly available video throwing a black speaker box and breaking a window locked to the left of the tunnel entrance. Tate then threw a black speaker box and a shoe at police officers protecting the entrance to the tunnel. The speaker box and shoe structure MPD officers. Shortly after the above assaults, Tate is shown in publicly available video receiving a broken table leg with a protruding screw through a broken window in the Capitol building. The window was the same window damaged by Tate earlier with the speaker box and now was completely broken as a result of damage caused by Tate and others.

Tate is shown in multiple publicly available videos and photographs taken by a photojournalist, navigating through the crowd and carrying the broken table leg toward the entrance to the tunnel. At approximately 4:34 p.m., Tate is shown in publicly available video throwing the broken table leg at police officers who were protecting the tunnel.

Later, at approximately 4:38 p.m., Tate is shown in publicly available video assisting others carry a piece of lumber toward the entrance to the tunnel, and, about 5:01 p.m., Tate is shown in multiple publicity available videos throwing a floor lamp at police officers near the tunnel.

Tate later gave an interview to a media outlet, in which he states, “I would never hurt an officer. I come from a military background. I’m very respectful of our military and police… I know I didn’t hurt anybody … I’m not speaking here bold as brass, because you never know what can happen…but I’ve never, ever once hurt, or put my hands on an officer… I never did it. So, I’m not going to live the rest of my life in fear.”

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Indianapolis and Washington Field Offices, which identified Tate as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #119 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance provided by FBI Charlotte, U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than then 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Behymer and Moss

March 16, 2023: WISHTV.com reported: “Indiana Couple arrested for actions during Jan. 6 Capitol Breach” It was written by Jay Adkins and Richard Essex.

An Indiana couple were arrested today on felony and misdemeanor charges for their action during the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.

Arthur Rehyer and Jessica Rehyer, both 38, of Brownsburg, Indiana, were arrested Wednesday morning after being charged with civil disorder, a felony, and related misdemeanor offenses.

According to documents filed in federal court by the U.S. district attorney for the District of Columbia, the Reyhers were among the first group of rioters to enter the tunnel of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

As the couple entered the tunnel the first time around 2:46 p.m., Arthur Reheyr held both of his hands in the air as he and other rioters yelled “our house!” while assisting other rioters in attempting to push past the officers in the tunnel.

Around 2:50 p.m., the Reyhers and other rioters started coordinated pushes against the officers, the documents say. At 2:52 p.m., the Reyhers exited the tunnel as the officers progressed forward against the rioters.

Investigators say that, once outside, Arthur Reyher was part of another attempt to push police out of the tunnel. He was heard on video yelling to another rioter, “Don’t hit ’em. Keep your hands up and push.”

According to court documents, at 3:01 p.m., 11 minutes after the Rehyers were first spotted on camera, they are again spotted attempting to re-enter the tunnel. This time, they and other rioters exit the tunnel after being sprayed with a chemical irritant.

At 3:04 p.m., the Rehyers returned to the tunnel and pushed the way to the front of the rioters. The Reyhers and rioters once again pushed their body weight in unison against the officers. Rioters used police riot shields and police riot batons to combat the officer.

A chemical irritant was sprayed inside the tunnel at 3:05 p.m., and the Reyhers covered their faces and exited the tunnel for a second time but stayed near the tunnel’s archway.

At 3:08 p.m., video footage captured Arthur Reyher yelling, “push!’ and patting rioters on the back as they entered the tunnel.

A rioter came out of the tunnel and yelled, “we are almost through!” while Arthur Reyher exclaimed “push!” and “our house!” Another rioter turned to the Reyhers and said, “hey, guys, are you going in or not?”

Rioters passed riot shields to the front of the tunnel and yelled “shield wall!” to make a shield wall and assault officers.

One officer in the scrim screamed in pain as the weight of the rioters’ pushes pinned him between a shield and a door.

At 3:17 p.m., the Reyhers exited the tunnel and again helped rioters push against the officer line. The pushing continued until officers successfully pushed the rioters from the tunnel.

Rehyers were released without bond and told to report to the U.S. Probation Office.

In January 2021, the FBI received anonymous tips from witnesses that the Reyhers were involved in the breach. Law enforcement interviewed Arthur Reyher, who confessed that he and Jessica Reyher were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Rehyer says he believed President Donald Trump lost the election due to voter fraud.

Witnesses positively identified the Rehyers from images taken during the Jan. 6 breach.

In the 26 months since the Jan. 6 breach, more than 999 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach, with 320 of those people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

October 3, 2024: The Republic reported: “Two Bartholomew County residents plead guilty in Jan. 6 case” It was written by Andy East.

Two Bartholomew County men have pleaded guilty to assaulting enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, bringing the total number of local residents who have pleaded guilty to participating in the failed insurrection to three.

James Link Behymer of Hope and Donald Lee Moss of Elizabethtown pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer during the U.S. Capitol attack, according to filings in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The offense carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release, according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan — who also is presiding over the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election — scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 13.

Behymer and Moss were realized on personal recognizance following a change-of-plea hearing on Thursday.

The guilty pleas come about two months after the two local residents signed plea agreements with federal prosecutors in which they agreed to plead guilty to one of several criminal charges. Behymer had originally been charged with six criminal offenses, while Moss had been charged with seven criminal offenses.

In the agreement, Behymer and Moss acknowledged being part of a group of “angry and violent” pro-Trump rioters who surrounded and assaulted DC police as part of an effort to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

They also agreed to allow law enforcement officials to review their social media accounts and posts in an around Jan. 6, 2021, and interview them regarding the events in and around the U.S. Capitol attack prior to sentencing.

Based on the two men not having any prior felony convictions and that “the parties agree that (they) used violence or credible threats of violence in connection with the offense.” federal prosecutors calculated their sentencing guidelines to be 24 to 30 months in prison and a $10,000 to 95,000 fine, according to court records.

Federal prosecutors allege that Behymer and Moss were part of a group of “angry and violent rioters” who descended upon and assaulted D.C. Metropolitan police officers near the lower west terrace of the U.S. Capitol who were attempting to keep them from breaching the building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Federal authorities said in the complaint they were able to identify the two Bartholomew Count men through cellphone records — including a cellphone number with an 812 area code that connected to a cell site that provided service inside the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection — as well as a witness described as a “longtime associate of Moss and Behymer” who identified the two defendants after being shown still images.

Federal prosecutors also included images the claim are of the two men that were taken from officers’ body cameras and third-party footage.

The complaint alleges that Moss and Behymer shoved officer’s arms away from them as the group of rioters “surged toward the surrounded MPD officers and began violently assaulting the officers.” The complain further alleges that Behymer struck an officer in the wrist and later attempted to pry a baton out of an an officer’s hand while stating, “Now I’m being soft, but I do want this pole.”

Moss, who at one point shouted, “This is our (expletive) house” while pointing at the Capitol, allegedly struck an officer’s arm and baton and forcefully pushed another police officer from behind during the attack, the complaint states.

The two Bartholomew County men made their way through the crowd and entered the U.S. Capitol and entered the Crypt, a vaulted space located underneath the Capitol Rotunda. They later exited through the Capitol Rotunda. They later exited the Capitol but reentered after rioters broke through a barricade set up by Capitol police at the Senate Wing doors.

After reentering, they returned to the Crypt and moved a sign that had been placed on a statue outside the Crypt’s entrance and put it on another statue before taking pictures of it, according to the complaint. On one side, the sign included the initials of the Chinese Communist Party with a circle and red line through it, while “America First” and “Never give up, never surrender” were written on the other side.

When the two men left the area, Moss took the sign with him and was allegedly captured in video footage carrying the sign inside the Capitol, as well as outside the building.

October 4, 2024: United States Attorney’s Office posted: “Indiana Men Plead Guilty to Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach”

Two men from Indiana pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2024, to assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Donald Lee Moss, 62, of Elizabethtown, Indiana, and James Link Behymer, 61, of Hope, Indiana, each pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. The two men will be sentenced on Feb. 13, 2025.

According to court documents, at about 2:00 p.m., on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington D.C., a group of Metropolitan Police (MPD) officers, wearing riot gear, walked toward the Lower West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol building as angry and violent rioters descended on, and surrounded, the officers and began shouting obscenities and curses at them.

The surrounded officers repeatedly issued commands to “move back.” They also began to move rioters away from their positions with their hands and batons. At approximately 2:01 p.m., Behymer approached the MPD officers with his friend, Donald Lee Moss. An MPD officer then extended his hand toward Behymer and said, “Sir, step back for your own safety.” Other officers directed Behymer and Moss to move back, but they did not. Behymer raised his right arm with a closed fist and repeatedly shouted: “USA! USA! USA!” At the same time, Moss points toward the U.S. Capitol building and shouted, “This is our f— house!”

At 2:01 p.m., an MPD officer extended their hand, attempting to keep Behymer back. Behymer then swung his fist down, striking the officer’s wrist. A few seconds later, the MPD officer placed their right hand on Behymer to keep him back; however, Behymer swung his left fist downward and struck the officer’s arm a second time while Moss forcibly shoved the officer’s hand off Behymer.

Behymer continued to shout, “USA! USA! USA!” and Moss told the officer to “Get your f— hand off him!” as the mob constricted the officers movements and pushed into them. Some members of the mob threw objects, including a traffic cone, at the officers. Admist the chaos, rioters screamed: “F — You! F–Nazis!,” “Go back to the Gestapo training camp!” “You’re the traitors! and “You wanna take us all on?!” Shortly after striking the officer’s arm, Moss leaned in and forcefully pushed another MPD officer from behind.

At approximately 2:02 p.m., Behymer was at the front of the rioters physically pressed into the officers. A rioter shouted at police: “Y’all surrounded.” Behymer then grabbed an officers hand and baton while the officer attempted to keep Behymer away. At approximately 2:03 p.m., Behymer re-engaged with police — again grabbing an officer’s baton.

Ten minutes after assaulting and opposing officers on the Lower West Terrace, at approximately 2:13 p.m., Behymer and Moss entered the U.S. Capitol building through the Senate Wing doors. At approximately 2:21 p.m., Moss stood at a shattered window and waived other rioters towards the Capitol building, encouraging them to enter the building. The two men then made their way towards the Crypt and the hallway linking toward the Senate Wing Doors. At about 2:31 p.m., Moss carried a chair across the Crypt lobby and placed it directly in the path of the retractable ceiling door to prevent the door from closing.

Moss and Behymer exited the Capitol at approximately 2:41 and 2:43 p.m., respectively. At about 2:48 p.m., rioters broke through a barricade set up by Capitol Police at the Senate Wing doors. Roughly two minutes later, Behymer and Moss re-entered the Capitol again via the Senate Wing doors and walked toward the Crypt before exiting at 3:44 p.m.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’ Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana provided valuable assistance.

The FBI’s Indianapolis and Washington Field Offices are investigating this case. Moss was listed as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #401 on the FBI’s website. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 44 months since January 6, 2021, more than 1,504 individuals have been charged in nearly 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 560 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

October 2024: Behymer and his alleged accomplice, Donald Moss, pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the Capitol breach.

According to an arrest complaint, the pair are accused of physically confronting police officers on the Lower West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol building as law enforcement ordered the mob to “move back.”

Behymer is seen on body camera footage grabbing an officers’s baton and pushing other law enforcement official’s hands away.

Behymer and Moss each pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer.

They are scheduled to be sentenced in February 2025.

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.

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.

California man testified against Capitol riot companion sentenced to home detention

May 3, 2024: The Associated Press reported: “California man who testified against Capitol riot companion is sentenced to home detention” It was written by Michael Kunzleman.

A California man who organized a “group of fighters” to storm the U.S. Capitol — and later, testified against one of his companions during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack — was sentenced on Friday to six months of home detention.

Russell Taylor had a knife on his chest and was carrying a hatchet in his backpack when he helped the rioters overrun a police line outside the Capitol.

Taylor, 42, of Ladera Ranch, California, pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to obstruct the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. He was a key witness for prosecutors in the trial of Alan Hostetter, a former police chief who was also convicted of a conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors recommended a prison term of four years and four months for Taylor, but U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth spared him from incarceration and sentenced him to three years of probation. He also ordered him to preform 100 hours of community service.

Lamberth, who has been one of the toughest punishers of the Jan. 6 riot defendants, said a probation sentence “comes once in a lifetime in my courtroom” and warned Taylor that he will be imprisoned if he violates his probation terms.

“You can be the poster child now for how these cases should be done,” the judge said.

“There’s hope at the end of the tunnel,” the judge said.

Taylor fought back tears as he recalled spending time jailed in solitary confinement after his arrest.

“I thought about why I was there and the mistake I made on January 6th,” he said. “I thought about being charged with a crime by a country that I do love.”

Prosecutors cited Taylor’s cooperation as grounds for leniency but argued that his role in the Jan. 6 attack merited a prison sentence.

“Taylor understood that his decision would not only sever his relationship with former associate but expose him to potential harassment and threats as well,” prosecutor wrote in a court filing.

Taylor and Hostetter served together on the board of the American Phoenix Project. Hostetter founded the group to protest government restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its focus later shifted to conspiracy theories about election fraud.

“After then-President (Donald) Trump lost the 2020 election, Taylor and Hostetter discussed how to respond, and Taylor asked, ‘How do we have a show of force? Motorcade? Rally? Riot?” prosecutors wrote.

Before the riot, Taylor organized a Telegram group that he called: “The California Patriots — DC Brigade” for those “that are traveling to DC for Jan 6th event that are comfortable with violence.” Taylor told members they would use the Telegram channel “to organize a group of fighters.

Taylor flew to Washington while Hostetter drove across the country with weapons that Taylor would carry when he stormed the Capitol.

A day before Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6, Taylor and Hostetter gave speeches with violent rhetoric at a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I will see you all tomorrow at the front lines. We are taking our country back!” Hostetter told the crowd.

After attending the rally, Hostetter and Taylor marched to the Capitol and approached a police line on the Lower West Terrace. Taylor cheered on the rioters who broke through the police line, shouting, “Move forward, Americans!”

Taylor then pushed against a police line on a stage set up for Biden’s inauguration. An officer deployed pepper spray in Taylor’s face, briefly causing him to retreat.

Hostetter and Taylor didn’t enter the Capitol but remained on the Upper West Terrace for hours before police cleared the area. Taylor later celebrated on Telegram, posting “I was pushing through traitors all day today. WE STORMED THE CAPITAL!” Freedom was fully demonstrated today!

Taylor was charged with Hostetter and four other defendants — Erik Scott Warner, Felipe Antonio Martinez, Derek Kinnison and Ronald Mele — who authorities have linked to the anti-government Three Percenters militia movement.

Lamberth sentenced Hostetter to over 11 years in prison after convicting him on all four counts, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and entering a restricted area with deadly or dangerous weapon. After a jury separately convicted the four other defendants, Lamberth sentenced them to terms of imprisonment ranging from 21 to 33 months.

Taylor said he thought he was “answering the call of a president that I believed in.”

“I was wrong to follow and listen to many people like Alan, who had their own agendas,” he told the judge.

Defense attorney Dyke Huish said Taylor already has performed 300 hours of community service and took citizenship classes “to remind him of the true value of being an American.”

Taylor’s cooperation with the government created an “unusual conundrum,” his lawyer said.

“This who still support the events of January 6th see him in hostile terms for his admissions and cooperation. He has been treated harshly by some people and had veiled personal threats. At the same time those on the other side of the issue shun him because he went to Washington D.C. in the first place,” Huish wrote.

More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 850 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

December 11, 2024: CBS News reported: “Man who pleaded guilty to Jan. 6 charge asks court if he can go to Trump’s inauguration” It was written by Scott MacFarlane.

A California man who pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to obstruct the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress to certify President Biden’s 2020 victory has asked the court for permission to travel to Washington, D.C., to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Russell Taylor, who was part of a group affiliated with the far-right, anti-government Three Percenters that was accused of plotting and planning to disrupt the electoral count, asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth if he can travel with his wife and children to Washington D.C., and Maryland for the inauguration.

Taylor’s lawyer, Dyke Huish, said in a court filing that Taylor was invited to attend the ceremony by retired Rep. Chris Stewart, of Utah. Huish stated that Taylor had completed his home confinement and was in compliance with his probation. He wrote that Taylor “does not pose any risk or concern for this travel request.”

Taylor admitted he had helped organize an effort on Telegram to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, to be “ready and willing to fight.”

A day before Jan. 6, 2021, he addressed a crowd saying, “I will see all tomorrow at the front lines. We are taking our country back!”

On Jan. 6, Taylor wore an armored tactical vest and brought a stun baton with him to the Capitol and was among the initial groups of rioters trying to break through police lines. He recorded a video in which he was seen urging rioters to fight and push forward against police. Later that day, he posted on Telegram, “I was pushing through traitors all day today. WE STORMED THE CAPITOL! Freedom was fully demonstrated today!”

Taylor, who had no prior convictions, flipped and cooperated with the Justice Department, testifying against a lead organizer, Alan Hostetter, a former police chief who was convicted of a conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors recommended a prison term of almost 4.5 years for Taylor, but Lamberth instead sentenced him to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Lambert said he believed Taylor had testified truthfully and expressed sincere remorse, and he said Taylor’s cooperation had been “essential,” which earned him the chance to avoid prison time.

Taylor told the judge, “I thought about why I was there and the mistake I made on January 6th. I thought about being charged with a crime by a country that I do love.”

December 11, 2024: “January 6 defendant invite to Trump’s inauguration by former GOP lawmaker” It was written by Ryan J. Reilly and Megan Lebowitz.

A Republican former House member and three current members of Congress from Utah invited a Jan. 6 defendant to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a letter filed by the defendant’s lawyer.

Jan. 6 defendant Russell Taylor organized a group of “fighters” to travel to Washington D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, in response to Trump’s tweet telling supporters the day “will be wild.” Last year, Taylor pleaded guilty to a count of obstruction of an official proceeding and cooperated with the government against members of the Three Percenters militia group. Taylor, prosecutors wrote, went to the Capitol led a mob that overran a police line while he was “wearing an exposed knife on top of a bullet proof chest plate and carrying bear spray, a hatchet, and other weapons in his backpack.”

Taylor’s lawyer, Dyke E. Huish, filed a motion Wednesday asking U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to allow Russel to travel to Washington with his wife and children for the inauguration.

The filing, which was first reported by Politico, included a letter from former Rep. Chris Stewart, of Utah, who wrote that “three other current members of the Utah congressional delegation join with me in extending this invitation.”

Huish told NBC News that Taylor had friends in common but didn’t meet Stewart himself until after Taylor was sentenced to probation along with six months of home detention.

“Mr. Taylor has some family friends who knew the congressman,” Huish said. “It’s a really boring story: They’re just friends, and he said “Hey, would you like to come to the inauguration?” and he set off a letter, and I’ve got to ask the judge permission, and here we are.”

Huish said he did not know which three of the four members of the Utah delegation had joined Stewart in inviting Taylor to the inauguration.

Stewart, a strong defender of Trump in Congress, resigned last year, citing his wife’s illness.

Stewart wrote in his letter that Taylor is a “caring father and reveres his family, his faith,” and “is admired by many, and especially those in his community.” He wrote that “Russ’ passion for what is right and good is reflected in his intentions to lift others. I am honored to extend this invitation for him to attend the Inauguration as my guest.”

Steward did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Huish said in his filing that Taylor “has successfully completed his home confinement and is in compliance with his terms and conditions of probation.”

Taylor organized a group of “Patriots that are ready to function as operators of disruption and against Tyranny” ahead of the attack, writing, “I personally want to be on the front steps and be one of the first to breach the doors!” The weapons and tactical gear found on him included “hatchets, a taser, stun batons, bear spray, tactical gloves, a helmet, and a plate carrier vest with bullet proof plates,” according to a memorandum for his sentencing.

On Jan. 6, 2021, after the Capitol attack, Taylor wrote in a message that he “was pushing through traitors all day today.”

“WE STORMED THE CAPITOL! Freedom was fully demonstrated today,” he continued.

Taylor’s filing requesting permission to travel comes just days after Lamberth emphasized the judicial principles of “truth and justice, law and order” at a separate Jan. 6 sentencing. Lamberth had also said jurors who heard Jan. 6-related cases “know how perilously we came to letting the peaceful transfer of power, that great cornerstone of the American republican experiment and perhaps our foremost contribution to posterity, slip away from us.”

Taylor testified on behalf of the government in trials that ultimately led to prison sentences for his co-conspirators. Huish said Lamberth had described his client as “the poster child” for the proper way for Jan. 6 defendants to handle their cases.

“He’s never backed off his belief that there were improprieties in the 2020 election. He’s always supported President-elect Trump But at the same time, he said, “Look, I personally went too far,” Huish said. “Quite honestly, if more people had been like Mr. Taylor, I think there’d be a lot less people in jail and we’d have restored this stuff a lot faster. You don’t have to give up your integrity to say, “I went too far.”

Trump has previously lavished praise on Jan. 6 rioters, a refrain he frequently invoked on the campaign trail. He has described people facing prison time for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack as “hostages” and “patriots.”

He has said he would “most likely” pardon Jan. 6 rioters, saying in a “Meet the Press” interview, that aired Sunday that “those people have suffered long and hard.”

In the interview, Trump said members of Congress who served on the House Jan. 6 committee ‘should go to jail.”

More than 1,570 people have been charged for crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack, according to data released this week by the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington. Of that number, about 590 people were charged related to assaulting or resisting law enforcement or obstructing the officers’ jobs, according to the office. Overall, prosecutors have secured convictions against more than 1,100 defendants, and Judge has sentenced more than 600 rioters to incarceration.

July 13, 2023: The Associated Press reported: “Former police chief who defended himself at trial is convicted of conspiracy in Jan. 6 riot” It was written by Michael Kunzelman.

A former California police chief was convicted on Thursday of joining the riot at the U.S. Capitol with a hatchet in his backpack and plotting to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A judge in Washington’s federal court heard testimony without a jury before convicting Alan Hostetter, a right-wing activist and vocal critic of COVID-19 restrictions who defended himself at his bench trial with help from a standby attorney.

Hostetter used his closing arguments to spin conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. He falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, portrayed himself as a victim of FBI corruption and referred to the mob’s attack as a “federal setup” involving “crisis actors wearing costumes.” He downplayed violence at the Capitol, referring to the riot as “basically the equivalent of a three-hour hissy fit.”

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Hostetter that no reasonable person — let alone a veteran police officer — would believe that it was legal to use mob violence to obstruct Congress.

“Belief that your actions are for a greater good does not negate consciousness of wrongdoing,” Lamberth said.

Hostetter — who previously served as police chief in La Habra, California, near Los Angels, — was convicted on all four counts, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and entering a restricted area with deadly or dangerous weapon. The judge scheduled sentencing for Oct 13, and denied a Justice Department request to have Hostetter jailed immediately.

Federal prosecutors said Hostetter has no evidence to support his conspiracy theories but stressed that he was charged with crimes for his actions on Jan. 6 — not his political beliefs. One prosecutor, Jason Manning, said Hostetter advocated for violence and mobilize allies to join him in Washington on Jan. 6 because he “didn’t like the election results.”

“For many Americans, the horror of January 6th came out of nowhere. Not for the defendant,” Manning said.

Hostetter was arrested in June 2021 along with five other men. Their indictment linked four of Hostetter’s co-defendants to the Three Percenters wing of the militia movement. Their name refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought against the British in the Revolutionary War.

Hostetter said he doesn’t have any connection to the Three Percenters movement and accused prosecutors of falsely portraying him as “a caricature of some radical terrorist.”

One of Hostetter’s co-defendants, Russell Taylor, pleaded guilty in April to a conspiracy charge. Taylor testified for the government at Hostetter’s trial. A trial for the other four is scheduled for October.

The six men — Hostetter, Taylor, Eric Scott Warner, Felipe Antonia Martinez, Derek Kinnison, and Ronald Mele — were part of a chat group called “The California Patriots – DC Brigade” on Telegram, an encrypted messaging platform, prosecutors said. Taylor posted that he created the group for “fighters” who were expected to bring “weaponry” and “plates” with them to Washington on Jan. 6, according to prosecutors.

All six defendants entered restricted areas of the Capitol grounds during the riot, prosecutors said. Hostetter wasn’t accused of entering the Capitol building.

On Instagram Hostetter posted a photo of himself and Taylor on the building’s Upper West Terrace with rioters in the background. A message under the photo said, “This was the ‘shot heard ’round the world!” … the 2021 version of 1776. That war lasted 8 years. We are just getting warmed up.”

Hostetter began teaching yoga after more than 20 years in law enforcement. In the spring of 2020, he founded a nonprofit called the American Phoenix Project. He used the tax-exempt organization to oppose COVID-19 restrictions and to advocate for violence against political opponents after the 2020 presidential election.

In November 2020, Hostetter drove to California to Washington to attend the “Million MAGA March” supporting Trump. On the way, he posted a video of his nonprofit’s YouTube channel in which he expressed his belief that the election had been stolen from Trump and called for killing “tyrants and traitors.”

In December 2020, Hostetter’s nonprofit hosted a “Stop the Steal” rally in Huntington Beach, California.

“The enemies and traitors of American both foreign and domestic must be held accountable. And they will,” he said at the rally. “There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this group.”

A day before the riot, Taylor gave a speech at a “Virginia for Trump” rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in which he called for violence to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, prosecutors said.

“We are all free Americans and in these streets, we will fight and we will bleed before we allow our freedom to be taken from us,” Taylor said, according to the indictment.

More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Approximately 100 of hem have been convicted after trial decided by judges or juries. More than 600 others have pleaded guilty.

Ex-police chief who spread Jan. 6 conspiracy theories sentenced to 11 years

December 7, 2023: NBC News posted: “Ex-police chief who spread Jan. 6 conspiracy theories is sentenced to 11 years in Capitol riot case.” It was written by Ryan J. Reilly.

A former California police chief who called for the execution of Donald Trump’s political enemies, joined the U.S. Capitol attack and then spread conspiracy theories about Jan 6 was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison on Thursday.

Alan Hostetter was found guilty in July on charges of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering or remaining on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He represented himself at a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Regan appointed, who sentenced him to 135 months Thursday.

Hostetter, who was the chief of the La Habra, California, Police Department in 2010, was arrested in June 2021.

Like GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and many far-right members of Congress, Hostetter has spread conspiracy theories about the attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Ramaswamy said, without evidence, during the Republican debate Wednesday night that Jan. 6 “now does look like it was an inside job,” Hostetter said during his trial that he believed “that the entire thing was staged.”

Hostetter, who was found to have carried a hatchet during the attack, brought up Ramaswamy’s debate comments at his sentencing hearing Thursday.

“These conspiracy theories are no longer fringe,” he said, noting Ramaswamy’s comments specifically.

“The open election was stolen. You have presidential candidates saying that openly during the debate,” Hostetter said. “At some point, the truth is going to be coming out.”

Hostetter also noted House Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to release Jan. 6 video, which has sparked additional unsupported conspiracy theories.

Hostetter also founded a group called the American Phoenix Project, which protested covid restrictions and denied the 2020 election results. He recorded a video after Donald Trump lost the election in which he said that “traitors need to be executed” and promoted Jan. 6 as the final day when patriots could make their stand.”

“Choke that city off, fill it with patriots, and then those people behind the walls of the Senate and House are gonna be listening to just chanting outside those walls.” Hostetter said in a speech ahead of the attack that was cited by prosecutors. “And they’re gonna realize, we have one choice. We either fix this mess and keep America America, or we become traitors, and those five million people outside the walls are gonna drag us out by our hair and tie us to a f—ing lamppost. That’s their option.”

“Some people, at the highest level, need to be made an example of: an execution or two or three,” Hostetter said in a video he recorded in November 2020. “Tyrants and traitors need to be excused as an example so nobody pulls this s— again.”

Federal prosecutors had sought more than 12.5 years in federal prison, sayin Hostetter conspired, collected weapons and traveled to Washington with the plan of using the threat of violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

At a hearing Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Mariano said that Hostetter had made himself a “poster child for Jan. 6 conspiracy theories” and that he spent time “promoting the dangerous lie that Jan. 6 was a false flag operation.”

But as Mariano pointed out, Hostetter had “not a piece of evidence” to support the conspiracy theory.

“If the defendant wants to know what would have stopped Jan. 6, he could start by looking in the mirror,” Mariano said, describing Hostetter’s actions as terroristic, not patriotic.

Hostetter said at the hearing that he believed Jan. 6 was a setup by the CIA, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. He said that he believed crisis actors and federal informants were involved, that the attack was a “false flag event” and that the death of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was faked.

“Once Ashli Babbitt psy-ops falls, this whole thing becomes undone,” Hostetter said, adding he believed there were “hundreds, if not possibly thousands,” of government informants in the crowd that day.

Hostetter also said he believes Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes — who is serving 18 years in federal prison — is a government asset.

Hostetter will be required to report to prison next year. After the hearing, Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft, confronted him in the hallway. Witthoeft, who got a meeting with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this year and frequently attends Jan. 6 court hearings, told Hostetter that her daughter was, in fact, dead.

“I assure you she is dead,” she said. “What the f— is it you’re trying to say?”

“Was she cremated?” Hostetter asked.

“You need help,” she replied. “Arrogant s—“

Hostetter’s trial featured testimony from co-defendant Russell Taylor, who pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal with the government. Their four co-defendants — Erik Scott Warner, Felipe Antonio Martinez, Derek Kinnison, and Ronald Mele — were all found guilty of felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other charges after trial last month.

More than 1,200 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, and more than 450 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration.

December 7, 2023: NPR reported: “Former police chief turned yoga teacher sentenced to 11 years over Jan. 6 riot” It was written by Tom Dreisbach, and Barbara Van Woerkom.

A retired California police chief, who led pro-Trump protests and called for “traitors” in government to be “executed as an example,” was sentenced to 135 months — just over 11 years — in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

After representing himself at his trial earlier this year, Alan Hostetter was convicted of conspiring to obstruct Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory, bringing a hatchet onto Capitol grounds, and disorderly conduct. While Hostetter joined the mob on the steps of the Capitol, he stopped short of entering the building and did not assault police officers during the riot.

“This defendant’s conduct was terrorism,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Marino, who argued that Hostetter’s lengthy career in law enforcement meant he should have known better.

“Through his words and deeds on Jan. 6, Alan Hostetter was a terrorist,” Marino said. “Nothing he did was patriotic.”

Hostetter denied wrongdoing and gave a lengthy conspiratorial rant claiming that the Capitol riot was the result of a “false flag” attack engineered by the federal government. “I have full faith and confidence the truth will come out and when it does it will shock people,” Hostetter told the court. He also praised Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for saying at Wednesday’s GOP primary debate that the Jan. 6 riot “now does look like it was an inside job.”

At one point in his remarks to the court, Hostetter endorsed a baseless fringe theory that the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed by a police officer while attempting to breach a locked door in the Capitol was “staged”.

“She wasn’t actually killed that day,” Hostetter said. That claim angered Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoft, who attended the hearing. Witthoeft confronted Hostetter outside the courtroom, calling him “arrogant” and telling him “you need help.”

The Department of Justice had asked Judge Royce Lamberth to sentence Hostetter to just over 12 years in prison, arguing that his violent anti-government rhetoric, carrying of dangerous weapons, and extensive planning merited a harsh punishment.

Many participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot took unusual paths to the storming of the Capitol, but few were as singular as Hostetter’s.

Hostetter served in the U.S. Army in the 1980s and deployed to Germany before going on to work for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and ultimately becoming police chief of La Habra, Calif. After her retired from that position due to what he said were spinal problems, Hostetter settled in the small beachside community of San Clemente and became a yoga instructor and sound healer. He posted videos of himself playing a gong in front of a sunset, and rhapsodizing about the search for inner peace.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, Hostetter began leading protests against what he viewed as tyrannical government overreach, and spoke in terms of violent anti-government revolution. He founded a nonprofit called the American Phoenix Project to support his protest efforts, and gained traction in Southern California’s right-wing political scene, standing out with his signature trilby hat and goatee. Hostetter appeared at events with Republican politicians and patented with the law firm of a prominent Republican attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, to challenge California’s COVID-19 policies in court.

Throughout his case, Hostetter has appeared to endorse a wide range of baseless conspiracy theories while arguing that he is a target of a longstanding government plot.

At time, he has referenced the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy alongside claims about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the firing of Tucker Carlson from Fox News and the Freemasons.

After the 2020 election, Hostetter and his group turned their focus to rejecting Biden’s electoral victory.

“President Trump must be inaugurated on January 20th, and he must be allowed to finish this historic job of cleaning out the corruption in the cesspool known as Washington, D.C.,” Hosteter said in a speech in Huntington Beach, Calif. in Dec. 2020. “The enemies and traitors of America, both foreign and domestic, must be held accountable. And they will. There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.”

Prosecutors say that Hostetter then, “spent weeks rallying others, collecting weapons and planning an attack on the U.S. Capitol on they that the peaceful transfer of power was meant to take place.”

Key evidence against Hostetter came from one of his co-defendants, a California man named Russell Taylor. He helped plan protests with Hostetter and joined Hostetter in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 while armed with a knife, body armor and a stun baton. Taylor pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, cooperated with prosecutors and testified against his former friend.

Hostetter continued to dispute Taylor’s testimony at his sentencing hearing. In wrapping his remarks, he thanked Judge Lamberth for allowing him to speak at length about his case. “You always have given me the opportunity to flap my gums,” Hostetter told the court.

December 7, 2023: United States Attorney’s Office District of Columbia posted: “Texas Man Sentenced To More than 11 Years in Prison for Conspiracy To Obstruct Congress and Other Charges during Jan. 6 Capitol Breach”

Defendant, a Retired Police Chief and Member of the “DC Brigade,” Conspired to Halt Electoral College Vote

A Texas man, formerly of California, was sentenced today in the District of Columbia after he was convicted on four felonies as a result of his conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Alan Hostetter, 59, of Poolville, Texas, formerly of San Clemente, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth to 135 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. Judge Lamberth found Hostetter guilty of four felonies on July 13, 2023, following a bench trial.

Hostetter was convicted of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and disorderly or disruptive conduct in the restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

According to the evidence presented at trial, in the days following the 2020 presidential election, Hostetter, a retired police chief, coordinated with his co-conspirators to obstruct and interfere with the joint session of Congress at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, convened in order to certify the electoral college vote.

Prior to the events of January 6th, Hostetter gave several speeches espousing his views on the 2020 presidential election and calling for the execution of his perceived political enemies. He pronounced to a crowd of supporters, “There must — absolutely must — be a reckoning. There must be justice. President Trump must be inaugurated on January 20th, and he must be allowed to finish his historic job of cleaning out the corruption in the cesspool known as Washington, D.C. The enemies and traitors of America, both foreign and domestic, but be held accountable. And they will. There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.”

In another such speech in December 2020, Hostetter told a crowd of supporters that what he intended to accomplish on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress was in session, stating, “Choke that city off, fill it with patriots, and then those people behind the walls of the Senate and House are going to be listening to us chanting outside those walls.” He added that he wanted member of Congress to know that “those five million people outside the walls are going to drag us out by our hair and tie us to a f— lamp post.”

On Jan. 1, 2021, a co-conspirator of Hostetter’s created a Telegram chat called “The California Patriots-DC Brigade,” which Hostetter, along with more than 30 others, joined and used to identify themselves, communicate and coordinate with each other.

Hostetter drove to Washington D.C., for the January 6th protest, choosing not to fly so that he could load his car with weapons. Hostetter brought tactical gear, a helmet, hatchets, knives, stun batons, pepper spray, and other gear for himself and others. On the morning of Jan. 6th. Hostetter met up with other members of the “DC Brigade” and walked to the Ellipse for the “Stop the Steal” rally.

Following the conclusion of the events at the Ellipse, Hostetter and others began to walk toward the Capitol building, where he made his way up the stairs of the Capitol, through scaffolding and onto the Inaugural state. As he came out from the scaffolding, Hostetter carried a bullhorn and looked down over the West Plaza, where rioters were battling with the police line they had passed earlier.

From his highly visible perch, and which his bullhorn directed to the crowd and his American flag waving above the chaotic scene, Hostetter encouraged the rioters below, who had been overrun by the police. At approximately 2:30 p.m., Hostetter joined the rioters on the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol who were pushing through a line of law enforcement officers trying to hold them back. Hostetter and a co-conspirator then pushed through the law enforcement line, moved through restricted areas of the grounds, and climbed into scaffolding covering a northwest set of stairs leading to the Inaugural stage.

Hostetter finally arrived at the Upper West Terrace. Here, he stated in a recorded video, “The people have taken back their house. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful sight in my whole life. We’ve been sitting here, quietly for years, watching this corruption unfold. Hundreds of thousands of patriots showed up today to take back their government.” Hostetter remained on the Upper West Terrace for hours. While there, he carried his bullhorn and used it to encourage the crowd. Hostetter finally left the area after being forced out by police.

Hostetter later posted a picture of himself taken from the Upper West Terrace to an Instagram account that he controlled, writing, “This was the shot heard round the world! … 2021 version of 1776. That war lasted 8 years. We are just getting started.”

Hostetter was arrested on June 2021, in California by the FBI.

On November 7, 2023, four of Hostetter’s co-defendants — Erik Warner, Felipe Antonio “Tony” Martinez, Derek Kinnison, and Ronald Mele — were convicted by a jury of, among other offenses, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. Hostetter’s co-defendant, Russel Taylor, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. These defendants are awaiting sentencing.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, as well as the Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Capitol Police, with significant assistances provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

In the 35 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,230 individuals have been charged in nearly 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

December 8, 2023: CNN Politics reported: “Former police chief sentenced to 11 years for involvement in January 6, Capitol attack”

A former California police chief who brought a hatchet to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and gave prior speeches calling for the execution of his perceived political enemies, was sentenced to 11 years in prison Thursday.

Alan Hostetter, 59, was sentenced to 135 months — a little over 11 years — Thursday by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, for his involvement in the Capitol riot.

In July, Hostetter was found guilty of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Prior to the Capitol riots, a pro-Trump rally a day before the Capitol riot spewing violent rhetoric in speeches in DC on January 5. The next day, Hostetter brought tactical gear, a helmet, hatchets, knives, stun batons, pepper spray and other gear to the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.

Upon arrival, he met up with other members of a group known as the “DC Brigade,” before joining the “Stop the Steal” rally. He later made his way to the Capitol building, where he joined other rioters pushing through law enforcement.

Hostetter was arrested on June 10, 2021, in California by the FBI.

Four of his co-defendants were convicted in November of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and a fifth co-defendant, Russell Taylor, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, according to the release.

November 7, 2023: United States Attorney’s Office – District of Columbia posted: “Texas Man Sentenced to More than 11 Years in Prison for Conspiracy To Obstruct Congress and Other Charges During Jan. 6, Capitol Breach”

GOVERMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM

The United States of America, by and through its attorney, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, respectfully submits this sentencing memorandum in connection with the above-captioned matter. For the reasons set forth herein, the government requests that this Court sentence Kevin Danial Loftus (“Loftus”) to thirty (30) days’ incarceration, three (3) years’ probation, and sixty (60) hours of community service, and order him to pay restitution in the amount of $500, as he agreed to do in the guilty plea agreement.

I. Introduction

The defendant, Kevin Daniel Loftus (“Loftus”), participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — a violent attack that forced an interruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count threatened the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 Presidential election, injured more than one hundred police officers, and resulted in more than one million dollars of property damage.

Loftus pleaded guilty to one count of 40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(2)(G): Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in the Capitol Building. As explained herein, a sentence of thirty (30) days’ incarceration is appropriate in this case because:

(1) Loftus came to Washington D.C., from Wisconsin on or about January 4 to attend the “Stop the Steal rally;

(2) on January 6, Loftus attended the “Stop the Steal” rally and then marched to the U.S. Capitol;

(3) after arriving at the U.S. Capitol, Loftus illegally and without permission walked inside the U.S. Capitol where he took several photos of himself and others inside the U.S. Capitol;

(4) on January 7, Loftus wrote on his Facebook account that he was wanted by the FBI, and he identified himself as one of the individuals pictured in an FBI release of suspects wanted in this investigation;

(5) also on that date, Loftus wrote on his Facebook account, “One of the 700” referencing individuals inside the U.S. Capitol. Loftus also wrote, “That is a right folks some of us are in it to win it;” and

(6) on January 9, 2021, during an interview of Loftus conducted by the FBI in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he admitted to walking inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Loftus also was an active-duty soldier in the United States Army for six years, and his participation in the January 6 attack on the Capitol was at odds with his prior commitment to protect and defend the United States and the Constitution.

Even if he did not personally engage in violence or property destruction during the riot, before entering the Capitol on January 6, Loftus celebrate the violence of that day. Loftus posted videos to his Facebook account of the attack on the U.S. Capitol and exclaimed that he and others were “in it to win it,” presumably referring to the efforts of many of the January 6 rioters, including himself, to disrupt the Congressional certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote.

The Court must also consider that Loftus’ conduct on January 6, like the conduct of scores of other defendants, took place in the context of a large and violent riot that relied on numbers to overwhelm police, breach the Capitol, and disrupt the proceedings. But for his actions alongside so many others the riot likely would have failed to delay the certification vote.

(“A mob isn’t a mob without the numbers. The people who were committing those violent acts did so because they had the safety of numbers.”) (statement by Judge Chutkan). Here, Loftus’ participation in a riot that actually succeeded in halting the Congressional certification of the Electoral College vote, his celebration and endorsement of the violence on that day, and his lack of remorse renders a sentence of thirty (30) days’ incarceration, three (3) years’ probation, and sixty (60) hours of community service appropriate.

II. Factual and Procedural Background

The January 6, 2021 Attack on the Capitol

To avoid exposition, the government refers to the general summary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Statement of Offense), at 1-3. As this court knows, a riot cannot occur without rioters, and each rioter’s actions — from the most mundane to the most violent — contributed, directly and indirectly, to the violence and destruction of that day. With that backdrop we turn to the defendant’s conduct and behavior on January 6.

Kevin Daniel Loftus’ Role in the January 6, 2021 Attack on the Capitol

Loftus came to Washington, D.C., from Wisconsin on or about January 4 to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally. On January 6, Loftus attended the “Stop the Steal” rally and then marched to the U.S. Capitol. Subsequently, after arriving at the U.S. Capitol, Loftus illegally and without permission walked inside the U.S. Capitol. As outlined in the following series of photographs, Loftus (circled in red below) can be seen unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol and exiting after spending approximately four minutes and 50 seconds inside.

In addition, Loftus took several photo of himself and others inside the U.S. Capitol. On or about January 7, Loftus bragged on his Facebook account that he was wanted by the FBI, and he identified himself as one of the individuals pictured in an FBI release of suspects wanted in the investigation. In addition, on or about January 7, Loftus also wrote, “The is right folks some of us are in it to win it.”

Loftus’ FBI Interview

On or about January 8, 2021, during an interview of Loftus conducted by the FBI in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Loftus admitted, inter alia, that he climbed up on a scaffolding at the U.S. Capitol for a good view and to take pictures and he walked inside the U.S. Capitol on what he thought was the top floor of the U.S. Capitol where Loftus took several photos and he later posted items on social media. Loftus also stated that he did not touch or hurt anyone.

The Charges and Plea Agreement

On January 11, 2021, Kevin Daniel Loftus was charged by complaint with violating 18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(1) and (2) and 40 U.S.C 5104(e)(2)(A) and (G). On January 12, 2021, he was arrested at his home in Wisconsin. On February 4, 2021, Loftus was charged by four-count Information with violating 18. U.S.C. 1752(a)(1) and (2) and 40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(2)(D) and (G). On October 19, 2021, Loftus pleaded guilty to Count four of the Information, charging him with a violation of 40 U.S.C 5104(e)(2)(D), Disorderly Conduct in the Capitol Building. By plea agreement, Loftus agreed to pay $500 in restitution to the Department of the Treasury.

III. Statutory Penalties

Loftus now faces a sentencing on a single count of 40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(2)(D). As noted by the plea agreement and the U.S. Probation Office, Loftus faces up to six months of imprisonment and a fine of $5,000. Loftus must also pay restitution under the terms of his plea agreement. As this offense is a Class B Misdemeanor, the Sentencing Guidelines do not apply to it.

IV. Sentencing Factors Under 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)

In this misdemeanor case, sentencing is guided by 18 U.S.C. 3553(a), which identifies the factors a court must consider in formulating the sentence. Some of those factors include: the nature and circumstances of the offense, 3553(a)(1); the history and characteristics of the defendant, the need for the sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offense and promote respect for the law 3553(a)(2)(A); the need for the sentence to afford adequate deterrence, 3553(a)(2)(B); and the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct. 3553(a)(6). In this case, as describe below, the Section 3553(a) factors weigh in favor of thirty (30) days’ incarceration, three (3) years’ probation, and sixty (60) hours of community service.

A. The Nature and Circumstances on the Offense

The attack on the U.S. Capitol, on January 6, 2021, is a criminal offense unparalleled in American history. It represented a grave threat to our democratic norms. It was the one of the only times in our history when the building was literally occupied by hostile participants. The attack defies comparison to other events.

While each defendant should be sentenced based on their individual conduct, this Court should note that each person who entered the Capitol on January 6 without authorization did so under the most extreme of circumstances. As they entered the Capitol, they would — at a minimum — have crossed through numerous barriers and barricades and heard the throes of a mob. Depending on the timing and location of their approach, they also may have observed extensive fighting with police officers and smelled chemical irritants in the air. No rioter was a mere tourist that day.

Additionally, while looking at Loftus’s individual conduct, the Court must assess such conduct on a spectrum. This Court, in determining a fair and just sentence on this spectrum, should look to a number of critical factors, to include: (1) whether, when, how the defendant entered the Capitol building; (2) whether the defendant encouraged violence; (3) whether the defendant encouraged property destruction; (4) the defendant’s reaction to acts of violence or destruction; (5) whether during or after the riot, the defendant destroyed evidence; (6) the length of the defendant’s time inside of the building, and exactly where the defendant traveled; (7) the defendant’s statements in person or on social media; (8) whether the defendant cooperated with, or ignored commands from police officers; and (9) whether the defendant demonstrated sincere remorse or contrition. While these factors are not exhaustive nor dispositive, they help to place each defendant on a spectrum as to his fair and just punishment.

To be clear, had Loftus personally engaged in violence or destruction, he would be facing additional charges and/or penalties associated with that conduct. The absences of violent or destructive acts on the part of Loftus is therefore not a mitigating factor in misdemeanor cases, nor does it meaningfully distinguish Loftus from most other misdemeanor defendants.

Loftus’s lack of violence and property destruction explains why he was charged only with, and permitted to plead guilty to, a misdemeanor rather than felony.

More broadly, Loftus’ statements on social media during and after the attack demonstrate a total lack of remorse for his criminal conduct on January 6. Loftus bragged that he was wanted by the FBI, and he identified himself as one of the individuals pictured in an FBI release of suspects wanted in the investigation. Loftus also wrote that he was “One of 700” individuals unlawfully inside the U.S. Capitol, and that, like the others, he was “in it to win it.:

Accordingly, the nature and the circumstances of this offense establish the clear need for a sentence of thirty (30) days’ incarceration, three (3) years’ probation, and sixty (60) hours of community service.

Defendants Conduct While on This Court’s Release Status

One of the most important factors in distinguishing a possible sentence of home detention and that of incarceration is Loftus’s conduct while on release in this very case. As set forth below, on or about August 13, 2021, Loftus — under the alias “Zoso” sent individuals (whose screen names and posts are redacted herein) a series of messages on a social media game application site. In those messages, Loftus boasted that he “already” possessed various firearms, and so was not worried that he would be prevented from buying any more as a condition of his sentence.

In addition, Loftus made several statements regarding this case and celebrated that he was now “famous” and a “hero” for his illegal actions on January 6, 2021. Loftus also stated that he gained that fame by “standing up for all Americans” because he “broke the law,” and that he would file lawsuits against unidentified persons after the criminal case was over.

B. Loftus’ History and Characteristics

Loftus has a disturbing 25-year history of failing to obey the law. Loftus has four convictions of DUI, one for reckless driving, and another conviction for theft, spread out over fifteen years.

Loftus served six years in the United States Army. As Judge Nichols observed, this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Loftus is to be commended for his military service to this country, particularly sine he served two tours of duty overseas. On the other hand, his participation in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and his belief that his conduct on January 6 was an act of patriotism that made him a “local hero” is the antithesis of patriotism and heroism that characterizes the vast majority of this country’s military veterans.

C. The Need for the Sentence Imposed to Reflect the Seriousness of the Offense and Promote Respect for the Law

The attack on the U.S. Capitol building and grounds was an attack on the rule of law. “The violence and destruction of property at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 showed a blatant and appalling disregard for our institutions of government and the orderly administration of the democratic process.”

As with the nature of the offense, this factor supports a sentence of incarceration, as it will in most cases, including misdemeanor cases, arising out of the January 6 riot. (“As to probation, I don’t think anyone should start off in these cases with any presumption of probation. I think the presumption should be that these offenses were an attack on our democracy and that jail time is usually — should be expected”) (statement of Judge Hogan).

D. The Need for the Sentence to Afford Adequate Deterrence

Deterrence encompasses two goals; general deterrence, or the need to deter crime generally, and specific deterrence, or the need to protect the public from further crimes by this defendant. 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(2)(B-C).

General Deterrence

The demands of general deterrence weigh in favor of incarceration, as they will for nearly every case arising out of the violent riot at the Capitol. Indeed, general deterrence may be the most compelling reason to impose a sentence of incarceration. The violence at the Capitol on January 6 was intended to interfere, and did interfere, with one of the most important democratic processes we have; the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected President.

As noted by Judge Moss during sentencing:

[D]emocracy requires the cooperation of the governed. When a mob is preparing to attack the Capitol to prevent our elected officials from both parties from performing their constitutional and statutory duty, democracy is in trouble. The damage that [the defendant] and others caused that day goes way beyond the several-hour delay in the certification. It is a damage that will persist in this country for decades.

Indeed, the attack on the Capitol means “that it will be harder today than it was seven months ago for the United States and our diplomats to convince other nations to pursue democracy. It means that it will be harder for all of us to convince our children and our grandchildren that democracy stands as the immutable foundation of this nation.

The gravity of the offenses demands deterrence. This was not a protest. (“I don’t think that any plausible argument can be made defending what happened in the Capitol on January 6th as the exercise of First Amendment rights.”) (statement of Judge Moss). And it is important to convey to future potential rioters — especially those who intend to improperly influence the democratic process — that their actions will have consequences. There is possibility no greater factor that this Court must consider.

The Need to Avoid Unwarranted Sentencing Disparities

As the Court is aware, the government has charged over 700 individuals for their roles in this one-of-a-kind assault on the Capitol, ranging from unlawful entry misdemeanors, such as in this case, to assault police officers, to conspiracy to corruptly interfere with Congress. Each offender must be sentenced based on their individual circumstances, but with the backdrop of the January 6 riot in mind.

Moreover, each offender’s case will exist on a spectrum that ranges from meriting a probationary sentence to crime necessitating years of imprisonment. The misdemeanor defendants will generally fall on the lower end of that spectrum, but misdemeanor breaches of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, were not minor crimes. A probationary sentence should not become default.

The government and the sentencing courts have already begun to make meaningful distinctions between offenders. Those who engaged in felonious conduct are generally more dangerous, and thus, treated more severely in terms of their conduct and subsequent punishment.

Those who trespassed, but engaged in aggravating factors, merit serious consideration of institutional incarceration. Those who trespassed, but engaged in less serious aggravating favors, deserve a sentence more in line with minor incarceration or home detention.

For one thing, although all the other defendants discussed below participated in the Capitol breach on January 6, 2021, many salient differences — such as how a defendant entered the Capitol, how long he remained inside, the nature of any statements he made (on social media or otherwise), whether he destroyed evidence of his participation breach, etc. — help explain the differing recommendations and sentences.

And as that discussion illustrates, avoiding unwarranted disparities requires the courts to consider not only a defendant’s “records” and “conduct” but other relevant sentencing criteria, such as a defendant’s expression of remorse or cooperation with law enforcement…

…In any event, the goal of minimizing unwarranted sentencing disparities in 3553(a)(6) is “only one of several factors that must be weighted and balanced,” and the degree of weight is “firmly committed to the discretion of the sentencing judge.

The 3553(a) factors that this Court assesses are “open-ended,” with the result that “different district courts may have distinct sentencing philosophies and may emphasize and weight the individual 3553(a) factors differently; and every sentencing decision involves its own set of facts and circumstances regarding the offense and the offender.”

“[D]ifferent district courts can and will sentence differently — differently from the Sentencing Guidelines range, differently from the sentencing of an appellate court might have imposed, and differently from how other courts might have sentenced that defendant.”

Simply stated, the government (and this Court) should not ignore Loftus’ bombastic rhetoric, if no hubris, during the pendency of this case. As discussed supra, Loftus flaunted the severity of these crimes, and showcased his unwillingness or inability to take this process seriously. Rather, Loftus was fond of his newfound “fame”, and considered himself a “hero”, a startling take on the events of January 6. This all suggests that while this Court should and must be focused on rehabilitation, punishment is an appropriate goal at sentencing too.

V. Conclusion

Sentencing requires the Court to carefully balance the 3553(a) factors. As explained herein, some of those factor support a sentence of incarceration and some support a more lenient sentence. Balancing these factors, the government recommends that this Court sentence Kevin Daniel Loftus to thirty (30) days’ incarceration, three (3) years’ probation, and sixty (60) hours of community service. Such a sentence protects the community, promotes respect for the law, and deters future crime by imposing restrictions on his liberty as a consequence of his behavior, while recognizing his early acceptance of responsibility.

November 8, 2023: The Associated Press reported: “4 California men linked to the Three Percenters militia convicted of conspiracy in Jan. 6 case”

Four California men linked to the “Three Percenters” militia movement have been convicted charges including conspiracy and obstruction for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Erik Scott Warner, 48, of Menifee,; Felipe Antonio Martinez, 50, of Lake Elsinore; Derek Kinnison, 42, of Lake Elsinore; and Ronald Mele, 54, of Temecula, were found guilty on Tuesday after a trial in Washington’s federal court, according to prosecutors.

They were convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding — the joint session of Congress in which lawmakers met to certify President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.

Attorneys for Martinez and Warner declined to comment, and emails seeking comment were sent to an attorney for Mele.

Kinison’s lawyer, Nicolai Cocis, said he is disappointed with the verdict and they are considering all available legal options.

“Mr. Kinnison is a patriotic citizen who wanted to show his support for President Trump, who he believed was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. He regrets his involvement in the events of January 6,” Cocis said in an email.

Prosecutors say the men were part of the Three Percenters militia in Southern California. The Three Percenters militia movement refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British.

They were charged in 2021 alongside Alan Hostetter, a former California police chief, right-wing activist and vocal critic of COVID-19 restrictions, who was convicted in July in a separate trial.

The four men joined a telegram chat with Hostetter and Taylor called “The California Patriots — DC Brigade” to coordinate plans for coming to Washington. Taylor posted that he created the group for “fighters” who were expected to bring “weaponry” and body armor with them to Washington on Jan. 6, according to prosecutors.

Warner, Martinez, Kinnison and Mele drove cross country together days before the riot. On Jan. 6, Warner entered the Capitol through a broken window. Meanwhile, Martinez, wearing a tactical vest, and Kinnison, who was wearing a gas mask, joined rioters on the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace, according to the indictment. Mele, who was also wearing a tactical vest, proclaimed “Storm the Capitol!” in a “selfie” style video on the stairs of the building, prosecutors say.

Warner and Kinnison, who were accused of deleting the “DC Brigade” chat from their phones after the riot, were also convicted of tampering with documents or proceedings.

Nearly 1,200 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury or judge after a trial. Approximately 700 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 22 years.

December 13, 2024: The Associated Press reported: “Capitol rioter who tried to join the Russian army is sentenced to prison for probation violation.” It was written by Michael Kunzelman.

A Dallas man who tried to fly overseas to join the Russian military and fight against Ukraine was sentenced on Friday to six months in prison for violating the terms of his probation for storming the U.S. Capitol four years ago.

Kevin Loftus, a 56-year-old veteran of the U.S. Army, was stopped from boarding an Oct. 28 flight from Dallas to Tbilisi, Georgia, by way of Istanbul, Turkey, when Turkish Airlines identified a “security flag” associated with him, according to federal prosecutors.

Loftus didn’t have the court’s permission to secure a 90-day visa to travel to Russia, where he intended to apply for temporary residency. Loftus said he used the Telegram messaging platform to communicate with a man who would connect him with the Russian Territorial Defense Unit, a volunteer military corps.

“Loftus said he had already sent the man approximately $1200 to purchase equipment for Russian soldiers,” prosecutors wrote. “Loftus said his intent was to fight for Russian and against Ukraine.”

Loftus declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich sentenced him for the probation violation. The judge said Loftus has repeatedly violated court orders.

“He doesn’t think these rules should apply to him,” Friedrich said. “He wants to be above the law.”

Defense attorney Benjamin Schiffelbein said Loftus wanted to enlist in the Russian military because he “felt bad” for Russian soldiers and wanted to help them.

“He had no idea whether they could make use of him,” the lawyer said.

Loftus, a six-year Army veteran, intended to permanently relocate to another country, according to prosecutors.

“And his planned travel was for the express purpose of joining a foreign army to take up arms against one of this country’s allies and in opposition to this country’s foreign policy,” they wrote.

In January 2021, Loftus traveled from Wisconsin to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. After joining the mob of Trump supporter at the Capitol, he entered the building and took photographs. He spent approximately five minutes inside the Capitol.

Loftus was arrested at his Wisconsin home several days after the riot. He pleaded guilty in October 2021 to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

After his arrest, Loftus posted comments about his case on social media, referring to himself as “famous” and a “hero” for taking part in the Jan. 6 attack.

“Loftus also stated that he gained that fame by ‘standing up for all Americans’ because he ‘broke the law,’ and he would file lawsuits against unidentified persons after the criminal case was over,” prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors recommended 30 days of imprisonment for Loftus, but Friedrich initially sentenced him to three years of probation.

For his probation violation, prosecutors requested a six-month prison sentence. They noted the Loftus, while on probation, also was arrested in December 2023 and charged with driving while intoxicated in Richardson, Texas. Loftus was required to attend a substance abuse program, but he avoided jail time for that violation.

Over 1,500 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. More than 1,000 of them have been convicted and sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to pardon Capitol rioters, but the district court judges in Washington, D.C., typically have refused to postpone sentencing, plea hearings and trials until after the president-elect returns to the White House.

Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

December 17, 2024: United States Attorney’s Office District of Columbia posted: “Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Law Enforcement During the Jan. 6 Capitol Breach”.

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty today to assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Nicholas Waldon Smotherman, 41, of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to the felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. The offense carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison. A sentencing date is set for April 2025.

According to court documents, Smotherman was identified among a crowd of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, amassed on the Upper West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds. At approximately 2:28 p.m., a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer’s body-worn camera captured Smotherman wearing body armor — specifically, a green MSA Paraclete Tactical Vest — standing in front of the bike racks and a police line on the southwest side of the Upper West Plaza.

Here, a group of rioters had begun pulling on the back racks. Smotherman was seen on body-worn camera next to the group, appearing to advance toward at an MPD officer. Police then commanded the rioters to move back. Instead, the rioters pulled the bike rack barricades to the ground, and Smotherman moved forward towards the police line. Smotherman then approached an MPD officer and pushed the officer with both hands.

The officer then attempted to push Smotherman back using a baton, but Smotherman stood upright and yelled, “Hit me with it again.” when the officer again attempted to push Smotherman back, Smotherman grabbed the officer’s baton and attempted to pull it away. As Smotherman acted, he yelled “I’ll f– take this” and “Come out here b –“. The officer managed to prevent Smotherman from taking the baton while another officer deployed pepper spray, and Smotherman retreated.

Soon after this, rioters overran the police line on the Upper West Plaza, and officers retreated to the Lower West Terrace. A large crowd of rioters then gathered in and around the entrance to the Lower west Terrace Door, referred to as the “Tunnel,” the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on January 6th. Smotherman was later identified in and around the Tunnel.

The FBI arrested Smotherman on August 2, 2024, in Hermitage, Tennessee.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The matter was investigated by the FBI’s Nashville and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department. Smotherman was indemnified as Assault on Federal Officer (AFO) #364/

In the 47 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,572 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes rated to the breach of the U.S Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

December 18, 2024: The Tennessean reported: “Middle Tennessee man pleads guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer, more in 2021 US Capital attack” It was written by Craig Shoup.

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Nicholas Waldon Smotherman, 41, of Mt. Juliet, pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, during the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Smotherman is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23.

“His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election,” a spokesperson with the United States District of Columbia said in a release.

Court documents show Smotherman was identified among a crowd of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, who were amassed on the Upper West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds.

The attorney’s office said the group of rioters began pulling on bike racks. Smotherman was seen on body-worn cameras next to the group appearing to advance toward police officers. When police commanded the rioters to move back, they pulled the bike rack barricade to the ground. Smotherman moved forward to the police line and then approached police and pushed an officer with both hands, prosecutors said.

The officer then attempted to push Smotherman back using a baton, but Smotherman stood upright and yelled, “Hit me with it again.” When the officer attempted to push Smotherman back, Smotherman grabbed the officer’s baton and tried to pull it away. As Smotherman acted, he yelled “I’ll f– take this” and “Come out her b—“. The officer managed to prevent Smotherman from taking the baton while another officer deployed pepper spray, and Smotherman retreated, the attorney’s office said.

After rioters overran the police line in the Upper West Plazas, a large crowd gathered around the entrance of the Lower West Terrace door, where some of the most violent attacks took place against law enforcement. Smotherman was later identified in and around the area.

The federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Smotherman on Aug. 2, 2024. in Hermitage.

He was among more than 1,572 people who have been arrested in connection with the riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

December 19, 2024: Yahoo! News reported: “Mt. Juliet man pleads guilty to assaulting authorities during Jan. 6. Capitol insurrection” It was written by Colleen Guerry.

A Mt. Juliet man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said 41-year-old Nicholas Waldon Smotherman pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Dec. 17, in U.S. District Court to felony assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, which carries a penalty of up to eight years in prison. His sentencing date is set for April 23, 2025.

According to court documents, Smotherman was identified among a crowd of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, on the Upper West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds. Shortly before 2:30 p.m., a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer’s body-worn camera captured Smotherman wearing body armor as he stood in front of the bike racks and a police line on the southwest side if the plaza.

The DOJ said Smotherman could be seen on the bodycam footage next to a group on the bike racks, appearing to advance toward an MPD officer. Police commanded the rioters to move back, but they pulled the bike rack barricades to the ground. Meanwhile, Smotherman moved forward the police line, approached an MPD officer, and pushed the officer with both hands.

Officials said the officer attempted to push Smotherman back using a baton, but Smotherman stood upright and yelled, “Hit me with it again.” When the officer tried again, Smotherman grabbed the officer’s baton and attempted to pull it away while yelling “I’ll f— take this” and “Come out her b—“. The officer prevented Smotherman from taking the baton while another officer deployed pepper spray, which made Smotherman retreat.

Soon after, rioters overran the police on the Upper West Plaza, so officers retreated to the Lower West Terrace, the DOJ said. Then, a large crowd of rioters gathered in and around the entrance to the Lower West Terrace door, which officials referred to as the ‘Tunnel,” calling it “the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement” on Jan. 6, 2021. Smotherman was identified in and around the Tunnel.

According to officials, this case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the DOJ National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with valuable assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. The FBI’s Nashville and Washington field offices investigated the matter, receiving help from the U.S. Capitol Police and the MPD.

“In the 47 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,572 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony,” the DOJ said in a statement, adding the investigation remains ongoing.

October 3, 2024: The Republic reported: “Two Bartholomew County residents plead guilty in Jan. 6 case”

Two Bartholomew County men have pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, bringing the total number of local residents who have pleaded guilty to participating in the failed insurrection to three.

James Link Behymer of Hope and Donald Lee Moss of Elizabethtown pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer during the U.S. Capitol attack, according to filings in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C.

The offense carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release, according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan — who also is presiding over the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election — scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 13.

Behymer and Moss were released on personal recognizance, following a change-of-plea hearing on Thursday.

The guilty pleas come about two months after the two local residents signed plea agreements with federal prosecutors in which they agreed to plead guilty to one of several criminal charges. Behymer had originally been charged with six criminal offenses, while Moss had been charged with seven criminal offenses.

In the agreement, Behymer and Moss acknowledged being part of a “angry and violent” pro-trump rioters who surrounded and assaulted DC police a part of an effort to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

They also agreed to allow law enforcement officials to review their social media accounts and posts in an around Jan. 6, 2021, and interview them regarding the events in and around the U.S. Capitol attack prior to sentencing.

Based on the two men not having any prior felony convictions and that “the parties agree that (they) used violence or credible threats of violence in connection with the offense,” federal prosecutors calculated their sentencing guidelines to be 24 to 30 months in prison and a $10,000 to $95,000 fine, according to court records.

Federal prosecutors allege that Behymer and Moss were part of a group of “angry and violent rioters” who descended upon and assaulted D.C. Metropolitan police officers near the lower west terrace of the U.S. Capitol who were attempting to keep them from breeching the building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Federal authorities said in the complain that they were able to identify the two Bartholomew County men through cellphone records — including cellphone number with an 812 area code that connected to a cell site that provided service inside the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection — as ell as a witness described as a “longtime associate of Moss and Behymer” who identified the two defendants after being shown still images.

Federal prosecutors also included images they claim are the two men that were taken from officer’s body cameras and third-party footage.

The complaint alleges that Moss and Behymer shoved officers’ arms away from them as the group of rioters “surged toward the surrounded MPD officers and began violently assaulting the officers.” The complaint further alleges that Behymer struck an officer in the wrist and later attempted to pry a baton out of an officer’s hand while stating, “Now I’m being soft, but I do want this pole.”

Moss, who at one point shouted “This is our (explicative) house” while pointing at the Capitol, allegedly struck an officer’s arm and baton and forcefully pushed another police officer from behind during the attack, the complaint states.

The two Bartholomew County men made their way through the crowd and entered the U.S. Capitol and entered the Crypt, a valued space located underneath the Capitol Rotunda. They later exited the Capitol but reentered after rioters broke through a barricade set up by Capitol police at the Senate Wing doors.

After reentering, the returned to the Crypt an moved a sign that had been placed on a statue outside the Crypt’s entrance and put it on another statue before taking pictures of it, according to the complaint. One one side, the sign included the initials of the Chinese Communist Party with a circle and red line through it, while “America First” and “Never give up, never surrender”, were written on the other side.

When the two men left the area, Moss took the sign with him and was allegedly captured in video footage carrying the sign inside the U.S. Capitol, as well as outside the building.

In April 2021, former Columbus resident and former heavy metal musician Jon Shaffer pleaded guilty to storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, armed with bear spray.