He was arrested on January 17 and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. This story has been shared 264,224 times. had a first row seat.". They started chanting, Pray for Trump, Struck replied. Jurors also convicted him of obstructing Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, of interfering with police officers who were guarding the Capitol and of threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement. Griffins disqualification from office is not only retroactive to Jan. 6, 2021; he is also barred for life from holding any civil or military office in the future. Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin skirted extra prison time for 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. The verdict from a 12-member jury capped a two-day trial in Alamogordo, the 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. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. according to the Congressional Research Service, challenge to the candidacy of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, an Arizona man who was falsely pegged as an undercover F.B.I. In Greenes case, she was forced to testify, but ultimately was not disqualified. 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. Instead, Griffinwho previously served as a preacher at a "cowboy church"crossed barriers to reach an area outside the building where he used a bullhorn to lead the crowd of former President Donald Trump's enraged supporters in prayer. McFadden acquitted Griffin of disorderly conduct but convicted him of the misdemeanor charge of entering a restricted building or grounds. The sheer number of members of Congress who voted both against certifying the election and, later, to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial had few if any historical parallels. . Griffin has made a series of controversial statements calling for violence against his political opponents. Ahead of Friday's hearing, federal prosecutors recommended that he receive 90 days in prison but receive credit for those 20 days already served a period months below the maximum sentence of a year in custody. Couy Griffin banned from holding public office over role in Jan. 6 riots. 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. 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. Evans resigned shortly after the insurrection and before he was charged, but he has flirted with an attempted political comeback. 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. "Several of the defendant's statements in the recording of the meeting constitute either direct admissions that he was illegally present in a restricted area or evidence of the defendant's state of mind during and after January 6, 2021," prosecutors said. I went with the heart to pray with people, and that's what I did.". "I'm really hoping that the judge will dismiss the charges," Griffin told the Albuquerque Journal in June. Griffin is pictured riding a horse on Sixth Avenue in New York City on May 1, 2020. 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. He said he was leading the group in prayer. I'm not even so sure Ashli Babbitt is dead.". 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