"I'm really hoping that the judge will dismiss the charges," Griffin told the Albuquerque Journal in June. Five people died on that day or in the immediate aftermath, and 140 police officers were assaulted. The two-day trial began Tuesday with jury selection in state District Court at Alamogordo, the New Mexico community where Griffin served as an Otero County commissioner until he was banished from office last year for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The disqualification of Berger, for instance, was later widely regarded as overreach. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Cuoy Griffin, a 1/6 suspect, says he doubts two of the fatalities caused by the insurrection. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. The strikes left 34 people injured, including three children, and caused widespread damage. Earlier this month, a jury convicted a Texas man, Guy Wesley Reffitt, of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun inthe first trial for a Capitol riot defendant. Smith said prosecutors apparently believe Griffin engaged in disorderly conduct by peacefully leading a prayer on the Capitol steps. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. When McFadden posed a boilerplate question about whether Griffin had taken drugs or alcohol the accused Capitol rioter said he'd had a couple beers the night before. Last year, he became the first elected official to be banished from elected office in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol building, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory. Couy Griffin had returned to DC and was taken into custody just blocks away from the Capitol after Capitol Police officers ran his license plate and noticed that he had an outstanding warrant. After climbing over a stone wall and entering a restricted area outside the Capitol, Griffin said, This is our house we should all be armed, according to prosecutors. Griffin has been investigated by the state for corruption and is currently facing a recall effort, with around one-third of the required recall petition signatures having been gathered as of last week. I went with the heart to pray with people, and that's what I did.". Defense attorney Jonathan Miller portrayed Griffin as just a guy who rides a horse" and tried to do the right thing by registering Cowboys for Trump as a for-profit corporation and notifying donors that they cannot deduct donations from taxes. In a written closing statement in court, he had argued that he had been at the Capitol to lobby vice president Mike Pence to not certify the election results, and that, In no way does that pertain to nor support insurrection/rebellion, reported the Albuquerque Journal. Truth is I was 1 for 1 with the US Government. WASHINGTON A New Mexico county commissioner who entered the restricted grounds on Jan. 6 was ordered to perform community service and pay a fine Friday, but . On Monday, federal prosecutors displayed video footage in McFadden's courtroom showing Griffin climbing a makeshift ramp as he approached the Capitol. He is among only three riot defendants who have asked for a bench trial, which means a judge will decide his case without a jury. More than 770 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Judge Trevor McFadden served as a top Justice Department official in the Trump administration before the Senate confirmed him in 2017 to the federal trial court in Washington, DC. When asked whether he and Griffin had decided it would be "inappropriate" to enter the Capitol building, Struck replied, "I don't think we discussed that.". The verdict from a 12-member jury capped a two-day trial in Alamogordo, the community where Griffin served as an Otero County commissioner until he was banished from office last year for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Theyve got to resolve the question of Trumps eligibility as soon as possible. News Capitol Riots Donald Trump Republicans. Struck testified that he and Griffin went to the Capitol to find a place to pray. But McFadden said Griffin's claimed contrition felt "in conflict" with his tweets and public statements. Prosecutors played video clips that showed Griffin moving through the mob that formed outside the Capitol, where police used pepper spray to quell rioters. Prosecutors plan to call a Secret Service inspector and Capitol police inspector later on Monday. Griffin added. The 2024 presidential race begins: Will it be a repeat of 2020? He said he was leading the group in prayer. With Struck on the stand, prosecutors played one video in which Griffin recounted members of the pro-Trump mob spilling over barriers outside the Capitol. This story has been shared 264,224 times. Griffin is constitutionally disqualified from serving, the judge wrote. Griffin was previously convicted in federal court of a misdemeanor for entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, without going inside the building. Matt Dahlseid/Santa Fe New Mexican, via Associated Press. "Pretty soon, it was like a huge, amazing Trump rally," Griffin said. Defense lawyers plan to grill the Secret Service about ex-Vice President Mike Pence's whereabouts. Judge Unseats Official Who Trespassed at Capitol on Jan. 6, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/us/politics/jan-6-griffin-insurrection.html. Success in the latter scenario remains unlikely, especially in the absence of a criminal conviction. He denies that he did anything that was illegal. It could have real implications for protecting the country from people associated with the effort to overturn the last election., Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, adopted during Reconstruction to punish members of the Confederacy for taking up arms against their country in the Civil War, declares that no person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath to support the Constitution, had then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.. A January 6-related trial began Monday in the case of "Cowboys for Trump" founder Couy Griffin. Jurors deliberated for more than nine hours before delivering the verdict. Griffins attorneys say hundreds if not thousands of other people did exactly what Griffin did on Jan. 6 and havent been charged with any crimes. But legal experts say the ruling in New Mexico is significant nonetheless especially if it holds up. His lawyer, David Smith, requested two months probation. Griffin is charged with two misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. The case against Griffin is unlike most of the Capitol riot prosecutions. Heres what the criminal referrals mean. Congress used the 14th Amendment to disqualify Socialist Rep. Victor Berger in 1919, but not the insurrection provision specifically, and this was not a court decision. In his decision, Judge Francis J. Mathew of the New Mexico District Court said the insurrection on Jan. 6 included not only the mob violence that unfolded that day, but also the surrounding planning, mobilization and incitement that led to it. But the jury wasn't persuaded. And while circumstances might make that difficult to replicate, its nonetheless a historic marker of what transpired 20 months ago. But he found that Griffins actions met the standard set forth by the 14th Amendment, citing Griffins violent rhetoric and evidence of his actions at the Capitol. This just went from being theoretical to being something that is legally recognized and legally possible, said Noah Bookbinder, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog organization that filed suit against Mr. Griffin on behalf of a group of New Mexico residents. Heres what we know about what Trump did on Jan. 6. Two states temporarily suspend gas tax to ease drivers' bu Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, Bride killed, groom seriously hurt by drunk driver just minutes after leaving reception, All the red carpet highlights and star-studded fashionfrom the Karl Lagerfeld-themed Met Gala, The best-dressed celebs at the 2023 Met Gala: Rihanna, Gisele Bndchen, more, Kim Kardashians Met Gala 2023 look sparks comparisons to Playboy cover, Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson reunite at Met Gala 9 months after breakup, Khristina Williams previews the New York Liberty's 2023 WNBA season, Elon Musk Tells Bill Maher Woke Mind Virus Is Dangerous On Real Time, Katy Perry will be temporarily replaced on 'American Idol' amid drama. He acknowledged that Griffin was not criminally convicted of insurrection and there is no evidence that Griffin engaged in violence himself. People try to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Couy Griffin, a 48-year-old Republican elected official from Alamogordo, N.M., and founder of a pro-Donald Trump grass-roots group, had challenged U.S. prosecutors to prove Pence's whereabouts. as conspiracy theories continue to swirl about the events of January 6, SCOTUS Now Just Another Congressional Committee, Trump Ramps up Attacks on DeSantis: 'Dropping Like a Rock', Russian Strikes on Pavlohrad Aim to Hamper Ukraine's Counteroffensive, Greg Abbott Criticized for Response to Texas Shooting: 'A New Low', Democrat Sold First Republic Stock, Bought JP Morgan Before Collapse, Conservative Influencers Struggle With Countering Biden's Messaging. The network's correspondent said he learned from pursuing the story that many of those who had stormed the Capitol still believed the line pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the election had been stolen. Griffin, one of three members of the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico, is among a handful of riot defendants who either held public office or ran for a government leadership post in the 2 1/2 years before the attack. Not Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner and founder of Cowboys for Trump.. Federal prosecutors have offered Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin a plea agreement over charges that he . "You're probably your own worst enemy here," McFadden said. Magliocca said the issue could arise in a number of ways moving forward and is ripe for the Supreme Court to litigate before Trump might run for and potentially win the presidency in 2024. Griffin arrived in a cowboy hat, and the trial featured video footage of him on the Capitol grounds. Susana Martinez. But Griffin has resisted pressure to register the group as a political committee, including filing an unsuccessful petition to the 10th District Court of Appeals. A federal judge on Tuesday convicted Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin of trespassing in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, handing the Justice Department its second . (Griffin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The outcome of Griffins trial also could have a ripple effect, helping others to decide whether to let a judge or a jury decide their case. More than 230 riot defendants have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and at least 127 of them have been sentenced. Two days later, in Bowling Green, Ky., Mr. Griffin told a crowd that a war was underway with the elitist, gross, wicked, vile people, adding, We got to get our country back., In Atlanta, on Jan. 4, the ruling said, Mr. Griffin anticipated that there could be violence when crowds of people descended on Washington for Mr. Trumps speech. In 2019, Griffin forged a group of rodeo acquaintances into the promotional group called Cowboys for Trump, which staged horseback parades to spread President Donald Trumps conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions. Griffin said in a text message that he felt "blessed to be judged by a jury of peers" in his home community and has "never felt as vindicated." Trump cowboy Couy Griffin found not guilty of. Evidence at his trial showed that Griffin and his videographer climbed over various barricades and barriers, then clambered onto the inauguration stage in front of the Capitol and spent over an hour speaking through a bullhorn to the surging mob. Griffin is charged with illegally entering Capitol grounds the day a pro-Trump mob disrupted certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory on Jan. 6, 2021. Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin arrives at the Federal Court House in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. I dont think justice was served, Griffin said of his case in a radio interview earlier this month. On January 6, my actions were taken as the result of my faith and that was why I went down to the Capitol on January 6, to go pray with people., Griffin said there was no signage, there was nothing that indicated I was going into a restricted or unauthorized zone. McFadden responded that was preposterous and you knew you shouldnt be there and you continued to do it., I suspect you were prosecuted because you went to great lengths to publicize your actions. Mark Andrew Mazza, 57, of Shelbyville, Ind., faces up to 20 years in prison for assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon and up to five years for carrying a pistol without a license. Derrick Evans, was sentenced to three months in jail this summer for committing civil disorder on Jan. 6. Instead of taking his case to a jury, Griffin elected a bench trial with McFadden, an appointee of former president Donald Trump. Since he didn't enter the Capitol, Griffin was at the "minimal end of criminality," the judge said. COVID report finds suicide calls, overdose deaths and mental illness soared in D.C. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colombia said that after the incident, he had posted a video to the Cowboys for Trump Facebook page stating that he "climbed up on the top of the Capitol building and . Instead, he showed up Monday as a passenger in a pickup truck that had a horse trailer on the back. As a strategic matter, Im skeptical that disqualification under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is the best way or even a productive way to fight back against anti-democratic forces across the country, Hemel said. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. This is a battle and a war we cannot lose, Mr. Griffin said. According to a court document, Griffin tweeted after the trial that the media has tried to make me look like the biggest loser the last couple days. Last year, Griffin insisted that "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat" and called on Trump to "hang" his opponents for their "Treasonous Acts." McFadden also ordered Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, to pay a $3,000 fine and ordered a yearlong period of probation. ", "Others like himI don't believe Cuoy would be dangerousbut others like him can and will be dangerous.". Handing down the sentence, McFadden called the January 6 attack on the Capitol a "national embarrassment" and a "dark day" for Washington, DC, and the country. Griffin already served 20 days in jail upon his arrest last year, so he was released Friday. The secretary of states office initially prevailed in a June 2020 arbitration decision that ordered Cowboys for Trump to register as a political committee, file expenditure and contribution reports and pay a fine of $7,800. On the witness stand, Struck said he used to post videos on his Twitter account "before it was shut down.". Griffin's lawyers say that unlike the other protesters, he did not enter the Capitol, but instead stood on the steps of the building urging on others with a bullhorn, Buzzfeed News reported. At his sentencing, Griffin told the judge, I have huge respect for law enforcement and I am a respecter of the system. He said he had been a pastor before entering politics in Otero County. The ruling made Couy Griffin, a county commissioner in New Mexico, the first official in more than 100 years to be removed under the Constitution's bar on insurrectionists holding office.. He claims he has been selectively prosecuted for his political views. In addition to those legal arguments, the Justice Department asserted that pinpointing Pence's precise location on January 6 would jeopardize the continuing security of future vice presidents, including Vice President Kamala Harris. Couy Dale Griffin (born 1973) is a former politician who served from 2019 to 2022 as a county commissioner for District 2 of Otero County, New Mexico, which covers Tularosa, Three Rivers, La Luz, the western parts of Alamogordo, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation. "There's nothing illegal about that You feel clearheaded now?" He invoked free speech protections and said Cowboys for Trump used donations to travel and espouse support for conservative ideals, without raising money for a political candidate. Ahead of the trial, McFadden rejected Griffin's claim that he was politically targeted. Evans resigned shortly after the insurrection and before he was charged, but he has flirted with an attempted political comeback. His advisory sentencing guideline range for the misdemeanor conviction was zero to six months. The text of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states (key parts bolded): The last time elected officials were disqualified from office using the 14th Amendment appears to be 1869, shortly after the Civil War and the ratification of the 14th Amendment. Some have. Jurors also convicted him of obstructing Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, of interfering with police officers who were guarding the Capitol and of threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. WASHINGTON An elected official from New Mexico went to trial with a judge not a jury set to decide if he is guilty of charges that he illegally entered the U.S. Capitol grounds on the daya pro-Trump mobdisrupted the certification of Joe Bidens presidential election victory. He also took part in a multicity bus tour arranged by the pro-Trump group Women for America First designed to recruit protesters to go to Washington for Mr. Trumps speech on Jan. 6, in which the president called on his supporters to fight like hell against his election loss and urged them to march to the Capitol while Congress was meeting to confirm it. The judges order grabbed the attention of advocates across the country who have been pushing to use the 14th Amendment to disqualify former President Donald J. Trump and elected officials who worked with him in seeking to overturn the 2020 election from holding office in the future. Their first witness was Matthew Struck, who joined Griffin at the Capitol and served as his videographer. The ruling declared the Capitol assault an insurrection and unseated Couy Griffin, a commissioner in New Mexicos Otero County and the founder of Cowboys for Trump, who was convicted earlier this year of trespassing when he breached barricades outside the Capitol during the attack. The verdict from a 12-member jury capped a two-day trial in Alamogordo, the community where Griffin served as an Otero County commissioner until he was banished from office last year for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The strikes left 34 people injured, including three children, and caused widespread damage. He also suggested that a new civil war could erupt over the wearing of masks and pushed conspiracy theories that claim Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and rioter Ashli Babbit may not have died during the riot. Griffin has made a series of controversial statements calling for violence against his political opponents. An appeals court ruled in May that participants in an insurrection against the U.S. government could be barred from holding office, but the target of that case, Representative Madison Cawthorn, Republican of North Carolina, had already lost his primary, rendering the matter essentially moot. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden is scheduled to hear attorneys closing arguments Tuesday for the case against Otero County CommissionerCouy Griffin, whose trial in Washington, D.C., is the second among the hundreds of people charged with federal crimes related tothe Jan. 6, 2021, siege. Approximately 100 others have trial dates. The riot: On Jan. 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. GOP commission refuses to certify New Mexico primary vote Prosecutors have said that Pence remained at the Capitol complex during the relevant period. Read The Posts analysis about the committees new findings and conclusions. Griffin said in a text message that he felt blessed to be judged by a jury of peers in his home community and has never felt as vindicated. Effort to bar Jan. 6 figures from office notches historic win. In Greenes case, she was forced to testify, but ultimately was not disqualified. I lived a life devoted to the Lord, Griffin said. The trial forced prosecutors to disclose the location of vice president Mike Pence during the riot, over Secret Service objections, to prove that Griffin had entered a restricted area, though he did not enter the Capitol itself. The judge in the case, District Judge Francis J. Mathew, was unsparing in ruling that Griffin is disqualified from office. . The report: The Jan. 6 committee released its final report, marking the culmination of an 18-month investigation into the violent insurrection. There, Mr. Griffin spent more than an hour addressing the mob, at times speaking through a bullhorn. In 2019, Griffin forged a group of rodeo acquaintances into the promotional group called Cowboys for Trump, which staged horseback parades to spread President Donald Trumps conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions. In March, Judge Trevor N. McFadden, presiding at a bench trial in Federal District Court in Washington, found Mr. Griffin guilty of one misdemeanor count of illegally entering a restricted area at the Capitol and acquitted him of another that accused him of disorderly conduct. "I'm serious," he continued, "That's, that's how and I hate to be so crazy conspiracy-minded. Pro-Trump "Kraken" lawyer Sidney Powell recently volunteered her services to help the group reverse a court order to register as a political action committee and pay accumulated fines. agent who had instigated the mob that day. Mr. Hes going to run, and weve got to know whether hes allowed to run or not, Magliocca said. The secretary of states office prevailed in a June 2020 arbitration decision that ordered Cowboys for Trump to register as a political committee, file expenditure and contribution reports and pay a fine of $7,800. Indeed, in allowing Greene to remain in office, a judge had emphasized there was no evidence to show that Rep. Greene participated in the Invasion itself or communicated with or issued directives to persons who engaged in the Invasion. Griffin was much easier to tie directly to the insurrection, and he has now been found to have directly engaged in it. Soon after he was convicted by a federal judge in March of entering restricted grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, he returned to social media and the airwaves to disparage the case against him, insult the judge and assert that FBI and Team Pelosi were responsible for the attack on the Capitol. We have not had to escalate the process for any other political committee, Vigil said. Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin has reportedly been offered a plea deal for charges related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Justice Department said in charging papers that, following the January 6 insurrection, Griffin recorded a video in which he claimed to have "climbed up on the top of the Capitol building" and stated his intention to return on January 20 the day then-President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Plenty of history very bad history was made on Jan. 6, 2021. Sign up for notifications from Insider! He was arrested and charged upon his return to Washington. After his arrest, Griffin was initially ordered held without bond, in part because he said on a video he would return to Washington for the inauguration of Joe Biden and theres going to be blood running out of that building. He was released 20 days later, in part because he might be awaiting trial longer than the maximum six-month misdemeanor sentence he faced. had a first row seat.". Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. The difference is they didnt then decide to storm the Capitol building.. We SHOULD have won a grand slam on both counts. He also amplified his unfounded claims that the riot was a left-wing plot when he tweeted last month asking where is the investigation into the coordinated and PLANNED SET UP of Jan 6th!. One was presented by a team of lawyers who showed video clips of Jan. 6, 2021, used testimony from a number of witnesses, and played Griffin's on-the-record statements before and after the event. Wearing his signature black cowboy hat, "Cowboys for Trump" founder Couy Griffin arrived Monday at a federal courthouse just blocks from the Capitol to stand trial on charges stemming from his alleged participation in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. A New Mexico judge has ordered Otero County commissioner and "Cowboys for Trump" founder Couy Griffin to leave public office immediately for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Griffins lawyer said he doesnt plan to call any defense witnesses. During the weeks that Griffin spent in jail following his arrest, he was placed in isolation due to his refusal to take a required COVID-19 test. Federal prosecutors had pointed out that the secretary of state in New Mexico has asked for a criminal investigation into Griffins actions in refusing to certify the primary election there. Addressing McFadden on Friday, Griffin said he was "very sorry" for the violence of January 6 and described as "disgraceful" the many assaults on police who were protecting the Capitol. After all, if Couy Griffin is disqualified from holding office for his role in Jan. 6, then shouldnt Donald Trump be disqualified for his even greater role in Jan. 6th?. At a stop in The Woodlands, Texas, on Jan. 1, 2021, the ruling said, Mr. Griffin urged a crowd to view the attempts to overturn the election as a last-ditch fight, comparing it to the famous standoff at the Alamo. Whether this will ultimately stand up if appealed remains a major question and one that could have far-ranging implications. Struck responded "no" as the lawyer asked whether Griffin had destroyed anything, confronted law enforcement, or taken any action that would put someone in fear. At Griffins sentencing Friday, McFadden noted the tension between Griffins professed remorse in the courtroom and his numerous public statements after his conviction. He posted a video of himself to the Cowboys for Trump Facebook page on the following day, bragging that he had "climbed up on the top of the Capitol building" and had a "front row seat" to the riot. Frankly, I think thats completely legitimate, the judge said. Griffins case differs from the others in one crucial way: He was actually part of the crowd that stormed the Capitol and was later convicted of his role. Magliocca said the New Mexico decision could reverberate, not just for people like Mastriano, but if Democrats retain control of Congress and want to challenge the seating of certain Republicans tied to Jan. 6. A federal judge found Couy Griffin, a county commissioner from New Mexico and founder of the group "Cowboys For Trump," guilty on one of two counts stemming from the Capitol riot. The recent bench trial was a disturbing tale of two realities. He told Griffin, Youre not being sentenced for your beliefs about voting fraud and took aim at those advancing similar claims about fraud nationally. Mr. as well as other partner offers and accept our.
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