Source: United States Department of Justice News
A Kentucky man was found guilty in the District of Columbia today of two felony and seven misdemeanor charges related to his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. 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 presidential election.
Chad Barrett Jones, 44, of Mount Washington, Kentucky, was found guilty of all nine charges against him following a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Nov. 8, 2023.
Jones was convicted of civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; destruction of property belonging to the United States; entering or remaining in a restricted building; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; act of physical violence in the capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.
According to the government’s evidence, Jones traveled from his home in Kentucky to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally and other protests. After attending the rally, Jones made his way to the Capitol building and unlawfully entered the restricted grounds. Jones then climbed the scaffolding on the Lower West Terrace and waved a blue flag at the crowd.
Court documents say that at approximately 2:34 p.m., after rioters had breached police lines, Jones entered the Capitol building through the Upper west Terrace door. Once inside the building, Jones made his way through the Crypt, Statuary Hall, and the main door hallway to the House Chamber before joining a crowd near the Speaker’s Lobby, a hallway that connects to the House of Representatives Chamber in the U.S. Capitol.
According to the government’s evidence, Jones was part of a large crowd that tried to breach a barricaded door to the Speaker’s Lobby. The doorway, with the words “Speaker’s Lobby” visible at the top, was being guarded by three Capitol Police officers. Chairs were among the items visible through the door’s glass panels as being used to barricade the door from the inside. Members of the crowd then shouted and gesticulated aggressively at the officers. The three officers then moved to the adjacent wall as other officers in tactical gear arrived.
Seconds after the officers began moving away from the doorway, Jones began striking the doorway’s glass panels with the wooden flagpole of his rolled-up flag. Jones forcefully struck the door nine times with the flagpole while members of the crowd shouted, “break it down.” Jones then attempted to open the door by pulling it open with his hand. Jones was standing near the door when a woman was shot climbing through a glass panel that had been smashed out by another member of the crowd.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Louisville Field Office and Washington Field Office, with assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police.
In the 30 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,069 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 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. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.