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Jan. 6 Defendant Who Made It Into Senate Chamber Found Not Guilty By Federal Judge

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


A January 6 riot participant who breached the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building has been found not guilty by a federal judge, one of the few defendants who have thus far.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled Friday that Joshua Black, “who said he surged onto the Senate floor to ‘plead the blood of Jesus’ and absolve the chamber of evil spirits, could not be convicted of obstruction of Congress’ joint session, the most serious felony charge he faced,” Politico reported.

Following a bench trial that took a week, Jackson ruled that Black had a “unique stew in his mind” leaving her unsure that he was aware his actions were a violation of the law. He becomes the first person who made it to the Senate floor to be acquitted of the obstruction charge, the outlet reported further.

That said, Jackson did find the defendant guilty of other charges including disorderly conduct in a restricted building and carrying a dangerous weapon, a knife — a felony charge that could see him imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years.

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Politico added:

For prosecutors to secure a conviction for “obstruction of an official proceeding,” — a felony that carries a maximum 20-year sentence — they must show that a defendant had “corrupt” intent. But Jackson said prosecutors failed to support the charge with evidence proving Black’s intent. Evidence that Black intended to block Congress — or even was familiar with the congressional proceedings occurring that day — was “absent from the government’s case,” Jackson said.

Some evidence suggested that by the time he arrived at the Capitol, Black believed that the certification of the election had ended, Jackson noted.

The report noted further that Black was seen in video images from the Senate chamber, his cheek bleeding from a wound he suffered after being struck with a police projectile before he breached the Capitol. In her ruling, Jackson pointed out that Black had political and religious reasons for being in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, “a mixed motive that she said was rooted both in his claim to have ‘the Lord’s imprimatur’ and his steady diet of social media disinformation about the election results,” according to Politico.

Video captured Black gathering with other rioters who also breached the Senate as they looked over papers on Senate desks, taking a primary interest in one document that made reference to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Jackson spent a great deal of the court session explaining why she considered Black’s knife to be a “deadly or dangerous weapon” under the law, thereby justifying his conviction. Black had said the knife was used for hunting and more a tool for that purpose, but the judge said the story he told the FBI was different.

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“Black told investigators he carried his knife instead of a gun in order to abide by D.C. gun laws, and he kept the knife in case he needed it for self-defense. That intended purpose — for use against another person, even in self-defense — was enough to characterize the knife as a deadly weapon,” Politico added.

Only one person was killed on Jan. 6 as a direct result of the protest — Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a plainclothes Capitol Police lieutenant as she attempted to crawl through the broken window of a door leading into an anteroom outside the House chamber. She was unarmed.

Last week, on the second anniversary of her death, her mother, Micki Witthoeft, 58, was arrested for blocking traffic during a memorial for her daughter.

Video clips show Witthoeft being arrested by police as one of a group of demonstrators who blocked a road. Bystanders who watched Witthoeft being arrested hollered at police, saying they “murdered” her 35-year-old Air Force veteran daughter.

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In a statement, Capitol Police said, “The group did not have a permit to demonstrate on Capitol Grounds.”

“The sidewalk was open, a woman in the group was given multiple warnings to get out of the road,” the statement continued. “Instead of getting out of the road, the woman refused to leave, turned around with her hands behind her back, and asked to be arrested. As is typical for this charge, Witthoeft was processed and released this afternoon after being given a citation to appear in court at a later date.”

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