FATHER AND SON MOVER TRIAL

The Seefrieds, who waived their right to jury trial, were the first Capitol riot defendants to get a bench trial on a felony charge.įormer Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt testified before January committee The judge acquitted Hunter Seefried of three other misdemeanor counts: destruction of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with physical violence against property, and acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building. McFadden convicted the Seefrieds of four misdemeanor charges: entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. But the judge found that two other rioters had destroyed the window before Seefried cleared the shard. They were among the first rioters to approach the building near the Senate Wing Door, according to prosecutors.Īfter watching other rioters use a police shield and a wooden plank to break a window, Hunter Seefried used a gloved fist to clear a shard of glass in one of the broken windowpanes, prosecutors said. The father and son traveled to Washington from their home in Laurel, Delaware, to hear Trump’s speech at the 'Stop the Steal' rally on Jan. McFadden convicted both Delaware men of a felony count: obstruction of an official proceeding, the joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College that day. Neither defendant testified at their trial.

The Seefrieds were not charged with assaulting any officers. 'I assumed he was talking about Congress,' Officer Brian Morgan testified. The officer said the elder Seefried cursed at him and jabbed at him with the base end of his flagpole three or four times without making contact with him.Īnother Capitol police officer who confronted the mob near the Senate chamber recalled that Kevin Seefried asked, 'Why are you protecting them?' Goodman encountered Kevin Seefried before the mob chased the officer up a set of stairs, a harrowing episode captured on video. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to turn around and head away from the mob. Goodman led a group of rioters away from the Senate chamber as senators and then-Vice President Mike Pence were being evacuated.

The trial included the first public testimony of Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who has been lauded for his bravery during the Jan. Kevin Seefried told an agent that he did not view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racist hate. 'Hunter Seefried showed a pattern of deception and minimization of his actions' when an FBI agent interviewed him after the riot, McFadden said.įBI agents said they did not find any evidence linking Kevin Seefried or his son to any far-right extremist groups. Josuha Macias, co-founder of Veterans for Trump, was initially arrested in November 2020, after he and Antonio LaMotta drove from Virginia to Philadelphia in a Hummer adorned with a QAnon sticker and packed with an AR-15-style rifle, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and other weapons. Krasner wants man arrested outside Philadelphia vote counting site to return to jail McFadden said Hunter Seefried's guilt on the obstruction charge was a 'closer question,' but the judge ultimately concluded that the son engaged in 'aggravated conduct' that supported a conviction. The judge described Kevin Seefreid as the 'prime mover' in their decision to go to Washington on Jan. 'I find that he knew what he was doing,' McFadden said. McFadden rejected the defense argument that Kevin Seefried never intended to interfere with the congressional proceedings. Widely published photographs showed Kevin Seefried carrying a Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol after he and Hunter Seefried, then 22, entered the building through a broken window. He acquitted one of all charges and partially acquitted another. McFadden, whom President Donald Trump nominated for the court in 2017, presided over two previous bench trials for Capitol riot defendants.

FATHER AND SON MOVER FREE

They will remain free pending separate sentencing hearings in September. 6 hearing doesn't change many minds in Philadelphia suburbs

January 6 primetime hearing watched by at least 20 million, Nielsen says.

Krasner seeks contempt charge for Vets for Trump cofounder.

Father and son mover