New Mexico county commissioner convicted of Capitol Insurrection Jan. 6, 2021 charges

 from POLITICO dot-com article "Cowboys for Trump" founder and County commissioner convicted

Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner and the founder of Cowboys for Trump, was convicted Tuesday March 22, 2022 for breaching the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, joining a mob of thousands that forced then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress to flee for safety.

The verdict, delivered by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden after a two-day bench trial, capped a 14-month legal odyssey that forced the Justice Department to reveal the long-secret location that Pence fled to during the riot and raised questions about the level of culpability that belonged to each person who entered Capitol grounds that day — even if they committed no acts of violence or destruction.

But the judge stopped short of giving DOJ a complete win. He found Griffin not guilty of disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, contending that the Justice Department did not present enough evidence that Griffin had taken actions intended to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election.

Despite the split verdict, it’s a crucial milestone for prosecutors as they seek plea deals and convictions for hundreds of members of the Jan. 6 mob who crossed into Capitol grounds, which had been restricted that day due to the presence of Pence, a Secret Service protectee. McFadden had been openly skeptical of the case against Griffin, whose case was among the most marginal of the nearly 800 defendants charged for their actions that day.

Griffin, who waived his right to a jury and elected to have McFadden decide his case, walked onto Capitol grounds alongside Matthew Struck, a videographer who filmed most of their movements that day. He hopped a low wall at the outskirts of the Capitol Police perimeter and marched toward the Capitol, climbing onto the stage where Joe Biden’s inauguration was set to take place two weeks later. He led a prayer and spoke to the camera about his belief that the 2020 election had been stolen.