JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Every four years, Congress’ certification of the presidential electoral vote is so routine it barely merits a footnote in the media. Not last year.
A crowd of angry demonstrators supporting soon-to-be former President Donald Trump demanded that the counting be stopped. They then surrounded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and broke into the building.
Lawmakers scattered, police were beaten and a woman was fatally shot as she tried to climb through a barricaded doorway that led to the House floor.
The riot led to hundreds facing multiple federal charges -- and that includes some living in Northeast Florida.
While some of those defendants have already pleaded out, others are still making their way through the federal court system. Some are even due in court this month.
A St. Augustine man was one of the first 68 people arrested by Capitol police during a day of chaos and destruction. John Anderson, 61, died at Baptist Hospital South in September before he could go to trial.
The federal government is currently recommending a five-month prison sentence for a Nassau County man accused of leading a mob during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. According to a detailed sentencing memorandum, Jeffrey Register of Fernandina Beach led a mob of insurrectionists to the Speaker’s lobby where Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed.
Rachael Pert and Dana Winn, a Middleburg couple who pleaded guilty to charges related to participating in the riot, were sentenced to probation and ordered to pay $500 in restitution. Winn had plenty to say on Facebook Live hours before the Capitol riot last year. “This is American patriots. We’re tired of this s****. It’s time to make a stand.”
It was a different story when they saw News4JAX’s cameras outside Jacksonville’s federal courthouse. “Do you have any regret?’ reporter Corley Peel asked. “No Comment!” he replied.
An Orange Park man who was found with illegal guns and drugs in his home during the execution of a search warrant connected to his role in the Capitol riots was sentenced in October. Adam Honeycutt, a former bail bondsman, is set to appear before a judge later this month on the charges connected to the Capitol riot.
A former Baker County Sheriff’s Office employee who filmed himself during the riot was arrested by the FBI in January outside a Waffle House restaurant in Macclenny. Brad Weeks recorded himself during the siege saying “We’re taking back the Capitol! We’re taking back our country!” He is due back in court next month.
A corrections officer from Raiford, Jonathan Carlton, faces two misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry into a secure government building and disorderly conduct while making threats to impede government process. Two months after the riots he was asked if he wanted to apologize to the families with loved ones who died during the riot. “Sensationalism,” he said, laughing. Carlton is due in court next month.
Daniel Gray from Neptune Beach will also face a judge next month. Court documents show he was among the first people to try and break through police lines. Once inside the Capitol Rotunda, bodycam video revealed he grabbed an officer’s baton and pushed her, causing her to fall down a set of stairs.
