Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin Arrested For Trespassing

Shreya Gupta Shreya GuptaMay 22, 2023

Reportedly, Cowboys for Trump founder, Couy Griffin was pronounced guilty at first on January 6 at a misdemeanor trial. You are required to read the article and continue reading for more details. Follow us around for all the insights regarding Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin being arrested for trespassing.

Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin Arrested

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 victory at trial in the probe and affirming its use of an unusual misdemeanor charge against breach participants who, like Griffin, were not violent. The US District Judge, Trevor N. Mc Fadden found Griffin, who is also an elected New Mexico county commissioner, guilty of illegally entering a remaining on restricted grounds after a one-day bench trial, and not guilty of a second misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. Each charge was punishable by up to one year in jail.

couy griffin

Griffin, who attended proceedings in a black cowboy hat, left the courthouse in D.C. echoing former president Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He continued to claim he was a victim of political persecution, although his judge was appointed by Trump in 2017 and served as a Justice Department criminal division official in the Trump and George W. Bush administrations. McFadden set sentencing for June 17, after defense attorney Nicholas D Smith declined an offer for an immediate sentencing.

Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin Arrested

The judge’s verdict to the US prosecutor’s decision to charge about half of the more than 750 people arrested to date in the Capital seize with misdemeanors only if they did not assault the police officers, damage property or act to obstruct the proceedings of Congress. More than 220 individuals have pleaded guilty so far, most of them to a petty offense of misdemeanor parading, picketing or demonstrating punishable by no more than six months in jail.

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But in charging documents and plea talks, prosecutors have also deployed stiffer misdemeanor charges against those accused of more egregious or disruptive conduct than passing quietly through restricted areas, or, in a small number of cases like Griffin’s, did not enter the Capitol. In the first trial of a felony defendant earlier this month, a jury deliberated barely two hours before finding Guy Reffitt guilty on all five counts, convicting the recruiter for a self-styled Texas militia movement of felony charges including obstruction of an official proceeding, witness tampering and interfering with police in a violent act.

But McFadden acquitted the defendant of disorderly conduct, finding prosecutors had not proved he was acting knowingly to disrupt a government proceeding. The judge cited Griffin’s recorded statements saying that by the time he arrived on the grounds at 2:31 p.m., he erroneously thought Pence and Congress had already certified the election.

Griffin was arrested when he returned to Washington on Jan. 17, 2021, after saying during an Otero County Commission meeting that he planned to return for Biden’s inauguration with his .357 Henry Big Boy rifle and single-action revolver. He had also rhetorically suggested that the blood of political foes could be spilled at the Capitol in defense of the right to bear firearms. He turned down an offer to plead to a lesser charge and probation, waived a trial by jury, and took his chances with McFadden.

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Griffin is one of at least 10 people charged in the riot who either held public office or ran for a government leadership post in the 2½ years before the attack, according to an Associated Press tally. Griffin won the election in 2018 with 65 percent of the vote but is not seeking reelection. He has supported a $50,000 taxpayer-funded audit of the 2020 election results in the small conservative county, whose 24,000 votes Trump carried by 25 percentage points. Thank you for being a patient reader. Do share this article.

Shreya Gupta Shreya GuptaMay 22, 2023
Shreya Gupta

Shreya Gupta

Contract Specialist with 3 years of experience in end-to-end Contract Lifecycle Management for clients with global and domestic operations.

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