Current:Home > ScamsProminent activist’s son convicted of storming Capitol and invading Senate floor in Jan. 6 riot-LoTradeCoin
Prominent activist’s son convicted of storming Capitol and invading Senate floor in Jan. 6 riot
View Date:2024-12-23 23:16:22
The son of a prominent conservative activist has been convicted of charges that he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, bashed in a window, chased a police officer, invaded the Senate floor and helped a mob disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
Leo Brent Bozell IV, 44, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was found guilty Friday of 10 charges, including five felony offenses, after a trial decided by a federal judge, according to the Justice Department.
Bozell’s father is Brent Bozell III, who founded the Media Research Center, Parents Television Council and other conservative media organizations.
U.S. District Judge John Bates heard testimony without a jury before convicting Bozell of charges including obstructing the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress convened to certify the Electoral College vote that Biden won over then-President Donald Trump, a Republican.
Bozell was “a major contributor to the chaos, the destruction, and the obstruction at the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said in a pretrial court filing.
The judge is scheduled to sentence Bozell on Jan. 9.
Bozell’s lawyer, William Shipley Jr., did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Saturday.
Prosecutors said that before the riot, Bozell helped plan and coordinate events in Washington in support of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. They said that after Trump’s rally near the White House on Jan. 6, Bozell marched to the Capitol and joined a mob in breaking through a police line. He smashed a window next to the Senate Wing Door, creating an entry point for hundreds of rioters, according to prosecutors.
After climbing through the smashed window, Bozell joined other rioters in chasing a Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, up a staircase to an area where other officers confronted the group.
Later, Bozell was captured on video entering office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. He appeared to have something in his hand when he left, prosecutors said.
Entering the Senate gallery, Bozell moved a C-SPAN camera to face the ground so it could not record rioters ransacking the chamber on a live video feed. He also spent several minutes on the Senate floor.
Bozell roamed thorough the Capitol for nearly an hour, reaching more than a dozen different parts of the building and passing through at least seven police lines before police escorted him out, prosecutors said.
In a pretrial court filing, Bozell’s lawyer denied that Bozell helped overwhelm a police line or engaged in any violence against police.
“In fact, video evidence will show that Mr. Bozell assisted in some small way law enforcement officers that he thought could be helped by his assistance,” Shipley wrote.
Shipley also argued that Bozell “was – for the most part – simply lost and wandering from place-to-place observing events as they transpired.”
Bozell was arrested in February 2021. An FBI tipster who identified Bozell recognized him in part from the “Hershey Christian Academy” sweatshirt that he wore on Jan. 6.
More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. More than 650 of them have pleaded guilty. Approximately 140 others have been convicted by judges or juries after trials in Washington.
veryGood! (36288)
Related
- NFL Week 10 winners, losers: Cowboys' season can no longer be saved
- Be on the lookout for earthworms on steroids that jump a foot in the air and shed their tails
- Q&A: Why Women Leading the Climate Movement are Underappreciated and Sometimes Invisible
- Video game testers approve the first union at Microsoft
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 13 drawing: Jackpot rises to $113 million
- The economics lessons in kids' books
- Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud and other charges tied to FTX's collapse
- Indiana deputy dies after being attacked by inmate during failed escape
- Outgoing North Carolina governor grants 2 pardons, 6 commutations
- Solar Power Just Miles from the Arctic Circle? In Icy Nordic Climes, It’s Become the Norm
Ranking
- Inter Miami's MLS playoff failure sets stage for Messi's last act, Alexi Lalas says
- Flight fare prices skyrocketed following Southwest's meltdown. Was it price gouging?
- Has Conservative Utah Turned a Corner on Climate Change?
- Billions in NIH grants could be jeopardized by appointments snafu, Republicans say
- Diamond Sports Group can emerge out of bankruptcy after having reorganization plan approved
- Madonna says she's on the road to recovery and will reschedule tour after sudden stint in ICU
- NOAA’s ‘New Normals’ Climate Data Raises Questions About What’s Normal
- Nature is Critical to Slowing Climate Change, But It Can Only Do So If We Help It First
Recommendation
-
Advocates Expect Maryland to Drive Climate Action When Trump Returns to Washington
-
James Lewis, prime suspect in the 1982 Tylenol murders, found dead
-
Tatcha's Rare Sitewide Sale Is Here: Shop Amazing Deals on The Dewy Skin Cream, Silk Serum & More
-
The secret to upward mobility: Friends (Indicator favorite)
-
Waymo’s robotaxis now open to anyone who wants a driverless ride in Los Angeles
-
Maine lobster industry wins reprieve but environmentalists say whales will die
-
Cryptocurrency giant Coinbase strikes a $100 million deal with New York regulators
-
From Brexit to Regrexit