Cowboys for Trump Founder Guilty on One Count Over Riot

Couy Griffin convicted of illegally entering Capitol grounds, cleared on other charge
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 22, 2022 12:54 PM CDT
Cowboys for Trump Founder Guilty on One Count Over Riot
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin gestures before getting into a car after the first day of his trial in federal court in Washington, Monday, March. 21, 2022.   (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

A federal judge on Tuesday convicted an elected official from New Mexico of illegally entering restricted US Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct during the riot that disrupted Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory, per the AP. US District Court Judge Trevor McFadden heard one day of testimony without a jury on Monday before handing down a verdict in the misdemeanor case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a 48-year-old former rodeo rider who helped found a group called Cowboys for Trump. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail when sentenced in June.

McFadden, a nominee of then-President Trump, said there was ample evidence that Griffin knew he was in a restricted area and didn’t leave. Griffin crossed over three walls, needing help from others or a ladder to get over them, the judge noted. “All of this would suggest to a normal person that perhaps you should not be entering the area,” McFadden said from the bench. But the judge said prosecutors didn’t meet their burden to prove that Griffin engaged in disorderly conduct. “Arguably, he was trying to calm people down, not rile them up,” he said.

Griffin’s trial in Washington, DC, was the second among the hundreds of federal cases arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, siege. Earlier this month, in the first trial, a jury convicted a Texas man, Guy Wesley Reffitt, of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun, interfering with police, and obstructing Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote. Griffin is one of the few riot defendants who wasn’t accused of entering the Capitol building or engaging in any violent or destructive behavior. His lawyers argued that he was selectively prosecuted for his political views. Griffin is one of three members of the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico.

(More Capitol riot stories.)

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