WASHINGTON (AP)-A federal judge on Wednesday acquitted a New Mexico man of misconduct for allegedly illegally entering the U.S. Capitol and conducting riots after entering the building. Uprising last year.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled in his favor after hearing non -jury testimony in the case against Matthew Martin. McFadden, appointed by former President Donald Trump, acquitted Martin of all four charges against him.
Martin did not deny that he joined the hundreds of people who entered the Capitol during the riots. He is the defendant in the third case in the Capitol, whose case has been fixed out of court. He was the first of three to be acquitted of all the charges against him.
The first two trials of the Capitol uprising ended in convictions, though McFadden acquitted one of the defendants of misconduct after a trial last month. The fourth trial will begin this week in Washington against a former Virginia police officer accused of assault.
Martin was among hundreds of people accused of federal crimes that emerged following the siege on Jan. 6, 2021, when a group of President Donald Trump supporters prevented Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s election victory on 2020.
Martin, whose trial began on Tuesday, testified that a police officer let him into the building after the riot broke out. The prosecutor dismissed the testimony as “nonsense”.
Martin was charged with four counts of entering and staying in a restricted building, disorderly conduct and violation of a restricted building, forced entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parade, demonstration or picketing. in a Capitol building. .
Dozens of defendants in the Capitol uprising pleaded guilty and were sentenced, but Martin was the first to testify at trial. He said he “got lost” when he approached the Capitol and confirmed that he saw a police officer who blew him up in the building. Prosecutors say Martin remained inside the Capitol for about 10 minutes after entering the Rotunda gate.
Martin said he “enjoyed the day of turmoil”.
“It was a magical day in many ways,” he said Tuesday, adding, “I knew something bad had happened.”
“Do you understand that the cops were killed?” Martin was questioned by Department of Justice Attorney Michael Romano.
At least nine people were killed during or after the unrest. More than 100 policemen were injured. One officer died hours after the crash after being sprayed with bear spray, while other officers who tried to quell the riot committed suicide several months after the attack.
Prosecutors say Martin, an engineer, worked with a government contractor at a national laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and on Jan. 6 issued a secret security clearance. Martin said he actually worked at another facility in Los Alamos.
Attorney Dan Crohn said Martin saw him handcuff the officer after he entered the Capitol. Martin placed his hand on the officer’s shoulder “in gratitude and goodwill,” Crohn said.
“There was a very noisy scene there. “There’s a lot going on in trying to fix this,” Kron told the judge.
Martin is not charged with violence or destruction.
“As long as it’s there, it’s just standing there,” Crohn said.
Romano, a Justice Department prosecutor, said Martin joined a group of police officers trying to disperse the crowd. The prosecutor said Martin knew he had no right to go to the Capitol.
“The idea that he thought he was allowed to do this was nonsense,” Romano said.
Other defendants also said police shook his hand or said they could enter, but it was unclear how the court would handle this testimony.
McFadden last month presided over a bench trial for Kuoi Griffin, a New Mexico County official who helped form a group called Cowboys for Trump. A judge on March 22 convicted Griffin of illegally entering the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but acquitted him of disorderly conduct.
On March 8, jurors decided the first trial of the Capitol uprising in the cases of a Texas man, Guy Refit, of the armed attack on the Capitol building. Jurors also tried to refuse to prevent the joint Congressional hearing from confirming the vote in the College election, interfering with police officers guarding the Capitol and threatening his two teenage sons if they handed him over to the execution of the law.
Refit and Griffin entered the crowded spaces outside the Capitol, but not right inside the building.
Meanwhile, a jury trial began Tuesday against a former Virginia police officer accused of assaulting the Capitol along with a colleague.
The federal prosecutor said former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson entered the Capitol building because he believed Trump stole the 2020 presidential election and wanted to interfere in verifying the college electoral vote.
Another former officer, Jacob Frecker, pleaded guilty to riot -related charges and could be a key witness for prosecutors. Robertson’s trial continued Wednesday with testimony from a Metropolitan Police Department official who supervised other officers during the riots.
More than 770 people have been charged with federal offenses. More than 240 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly for minor offenses, and more than 140 of them are serving sentences.
Source: Huffpost
