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. "You're probably your own worst enemy here," McFadden said. The evidence will show that the government selected Griffin for prosecution based on the fact that he gave a speech and led a prayer at the Capitol, that is, selected him based on protected expression, they wrote. Since he didn't enter the Capitol, Griffin was at the "minimal end of criminality," the judge said. Griffins attorneys said in a court filing that Pence had already departed the restricted area before the earliest that Griffin could have entered it, but Secret Service inspector Lanelle Hawa testified that Pence never left the restricted area during the riot. Couy Griffin serves as District 2 Otero County Commissioner and Otero County Commission Vice Chairman in New Mexico, according to the Alamogordo Daily News. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. This is a battle and a war we cannot lose, Mr. Griffin said. 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. A New Mexico judge on Tuesday removed Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin by invoking the 14th Amendment's prohibition on those who engaged in insurrection from serving in office. video timeline of what happened on Jan. 6. Speaking to another crowd, he called on men from across our nation to come to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, because it might be a battle.. Cuoy Griffin, a 1/6 suspect, says he doubts two of the fatalities caused by the insurrection. Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin was reportedly offered a plea deal on Monday regarding charges related to his alleged involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot. 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. Another state lawmaker, then-West Virginia state Del. Newsweek reached out to Griffin for comment. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The recent bench trial was a disturbing tale of two realities. Why did he motion Byrd to wait? A CNN reporter was left flabbergasted when a man charged with breaching the U.S. Capitol on January 6 said that he was not convinced about the veracity of two of the insurrection's fatalities. Its the first time a U.S. president has sought to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power. McFadden also ordered Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, to pay a $3,000 fine and ordered a yearlong period of probation. If this ruling stands up on appeal, it sets a significant precedent for the next election cycle, said Gerard Magliocca, a constitutional scholar at Indiana University who has studied Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. 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. Derrick Evans, was sentenced to three months in jail this summer for committing civil disorder on Jan. 6. They started chanting, Pray for Trump, Struck replied. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider In court papers, federal prosecutors said Griffin bragged about his involvement in the Capitol attack at a county commission meeting. Hemel added: I wouldnt want Couy Griffin to be my county commissioner, or anyones county commissioner, but I think defenders of democracy need to think long and hard about whether judicial disqualification is the wisest approach.. The 1 I lost I will appeal. In a statement, the FBI's Washington Field Office told Insider that Couy Griffin, an elected Republican county commissioner in New Mexico, was detained Sunday afternoon by US Capitol Police,. An online fundraiser for Griffin has also raised nearly $50,000. 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. 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Federal prosecutors have offered Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin a plea agreement over charges that he illegally entered barricades during the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. COVID report finds suicide calls, overdose deaths and mental illness soared in D.C. His trial comes just weeks after a jury in Washington, DC, found Guy Reffitt guilty on five charges, including possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds. 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. Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin is confronting a trial by jury on charges that he failed to register a political organization without filing related public financial disclosures. Griffin is pictured riding a horse on Sixth Avenue in New York City on May 1, 2020. After he was sentenced, Mr. Griffin urged reporters to examine a series of debunked conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, including one about an Arizona man who was falsely pegged as an undercover F.B.I. In several high-profile races, those who didnt storm the Capitol but were otherwise involved in the Jan. 6 proceedings have won their partys nomination. Now its made even more history: Someone found to have engaged in insurrection that day has been disqualified from office, for what appears to be the first time in 150 years. 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. 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. Couy Griffin banned from holding public office over role in Jan. 6 riots. But the judge had harsh words for Griffin, who maintained during his sentencing hearing Friday that he was unaware that the grounds outside the Capitol were restricted on January 6. According to a court document, he wrote on Twitter that District Judge Trevor McFaddens PRE written response announcing the verdict was pathetic! Contacted Monday, Griffin expressed concern that registering Cowboys for Trump as a political group could lead to reprisals against donors. The judge said Griffins many defenses were not credible, and nor was his summary of his role on Jan. Griffin, an ardent conspiracy theorist who refused to certify the state's primary election results this summer in Otero County, told CNN he has been ordered to clean out his office and attacked. Thanks for contacting us. He said he would participate in an Otero County commission meeting later Friday by phone to refuse to certify a recent election until the voting machines are inspected. They said Griffin was a politician in his own right who clearly advocated for Trump while the president was a candidate for reelection, and that Griffin also promoted political positions on border enforcement, gun rights, abortion and more. 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. Separately on Friday, an Indiana man pleaded guilty to carrying a loaded handgun and assaulting police with a stolen baton in the Capitol breach. 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. Griffin never complied with the agreement. Brent Stirton/Getty. Griffin could face up to a year in prison is he is convicted. His lawyer, David Smith, requested two months probation. But the last time the section of the amendment was enforced was in 1919, when Congress refused to seat a socialist member who was accused of giving aid and comfort to Germany during World War I. 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. Some have sought to wield that seldom-invoked provision against members of Congress, without success, and even floated using it against Trump. Griffin said he and fellow commissioners don't see the process as trustworthy. 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. He also said that, if appealed, it could give the Supreme Court an opportunity to weigh in on this question without directly deciding on a case involving Trump. In a segment on Anderson Cooper 360, Drew Griffin was recounting his interview with the founder of Cowboys for Trump, Cuoy Griffin, who is also a New Mexico county commissioner. 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. 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 that disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory. Griffin, a 48-year-old former rodeo rider and former pastor, helped founda political committee called Cowboys for Trump. AP. "I'm . Effort to bar Jan. 6 figures from office notches historic win. 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. 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. On Monday, federal prosecutors displayed video footage in McFadden's courtroom showing Griffin climbing a makeshift ramp as he approached the Capitol. 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 . 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. Smith asked Struck if anybody appeared to be riled up by the prayer that Griffin led. Mazza is the second person to be convicted of carrying a handgun in the Capitol riot, with charges pending against a third. What now? Matt Dahlseid/Santa Fe New Mexican, via Associated Press. In the same video, Griffin remarked that if pro-Trump rioters were to hold a "2nd Amendment rally on those same steps" it would be "a sad day" because "there's gonna be blood running out of that building. The report: The Jan. 6 committee released its final report, marking the culmination of an 18-month investigation into the violent insurrection. 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. GOP commission refuses to certify New Mexico primary vote At the same time, Griffins conviction was for misdemeanor trespassing, for which he was sentenced to 14 days and a $3,000 fine. Inside the siege: During the rampage, rioters came perilously close to penetrating the inner sanctums of the building while lawmakers were still there, including former vice president Mike Pence. 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. Griffins marching with the mob all the way to the inaugural stage, knowing the mobs insurrectionary purpose, likewise constitutes an overt act.. 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. This story has been shared 264,224 times. Trump's latest attack addresses DeSantis' overseas trips to the U.K., Israel, Florida's Covid-19 record, and polling support for the 2024 Presidential race. McFadden is so far the only judge on the Washington, DC, federal trial court who has acquitted a January 6 defendant on all charges. Trumps attack on democracy after the November 2020 election started out as an attempt to use the judicial process to deprive voters of their choice of leader. as well as other partner offers and accept our. The disqualification of Berger, for instance, was later widely regarded as overreach. We've received your submission. 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. (Berger was later seated after his espionage conviction was overturned.). Plenty of history very bad history was made on Jan. 6, 2021. By Aila Slisco On 8/9/21 at 9:46 PM EDT. Newsweek has contacted Cuoy Griffin's county commission office for comment. 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. Both the prosecutors and the probation and parole department recommended he serve 90 days. 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. Approximately 100 others have trial dates. 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 . But the jury wasn't persuaded. Regardless, they said the law only requires that Pence was at the complex or "would be" returning to prove that Griffin unlawfully entered a Secret Service-protected area. 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. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. It would be helpful if they would take this opportunity to rule really for the first time what Section 3 means.. 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. 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. The ruling made Couy Griffin, a county commissioner in New Mexico, the first official in more than 100 years to be removed under the Constitutions bar on insurrectionists holding office. (Griffin is the founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump, which has been promoted by the former president. 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. He denies that he did anything that was illegal. (Griffin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 2024 presidential race begins: Will it be a repeat of 2020? 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. 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. After attendingthen-President Donald Trumps Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6,Griffin and Struck walked over barriers and up a staircase to enter a stage that was under construction on the Capitols Lower West Terrace forBidens inauguration, according to prosecutors. Babbitt was shot and killed by police as she tried to force her way past a barricaded doorway. "What I was a part of on Jan. 6 wasn't a violent mob or anything that looked like an insurrection. On the witness stand, Struck said he used to post videos on his Twitter account "before it was shut down.". Military Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin sentenced for trespassing The New Mexico county commissioner said he merely went to the Capitol to pray with protesters By Tom Jackman and. He took to Twitter, court papers said, and complained that Judge McFadden had issued a PRE written guilty verdict, decrying it as pathetic and adding, I wonder who wrote it?. Miller, a public defender, said Griffin's intention was to speak boldly and openly about common sense convictions and national pride without yielding to government control through the regulation of nonprofit groups.
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