Edward Richmond, Jr. (U.S. Attorney’s Office).
An Army veteran from Louisiana who served time for killing an unarmed Iraqi man while overseas is going to prison for assaulting police guarding the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Edward Richmond Jr., 40, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, to 51 months — or more than four years — in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.
Richmond pleaded guilty in August to assaulting officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
In their sentencing memo seeking 63 months imprisonment, prosecutors said Richmond attacked police officers at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, the scene of some of the most violent rioting that day. Wearing full tactical gear, he stayed at the front of the mob against officers in the Tunnel for almost two hours. He struck at officers with a baton while yelling, “we’ll break you motherf—–!”
He also took a police helmet and shield from officers and passed them out to the mob. He also passed a 6-foot wooden board into the tunnel to help rioters overwhelm injured, bloodied and exhausted police, who stood shoulder to shoulder using their body weight to hold back the onslaught. Richmond also passed into the crowd furniture taken from the Capitol through a broken window.
The Army vet was not deterred by his three-year court martial in 2004 for shooting a handcuffed Iraqi cow herder in the head with a rifle during a tour in Tikrit, prosecutors said. They added that he had a loaded AR-15 assault rifle in his home when he was arrested in January 2024 in the Jan. 6 case, prosecutors said.
“The sentence now must reflect those concerning choices, as well as his violent conduct on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said.
In his sentencing memo, Richmond’s lawyers said he was there that day to provide security for a group of people but has demonstrated “super” acceptance of responsibility.
“Between the events of January 6, 2021, and the day of his arrest, Mr. Richmond led a productive life working as a solar panel technician and raising his son by himself,” the document said. “He deserves a downward variant sentence.”
Prosecutors said Richmond traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of a “security team” hired to accompany nine people attending rallies in support of Donald Trump that day as Congress was certifying the winner of the 2020 presidential election before he marched on the Capitol and engaged the cops. At one point, while at the mouth of the tunnel, he attacked officers with a metal baton, striking them multiple times.
He was arrested on Jan. 22, 2024, but was not immediately kept in custody, Law&Crime reported. Government attorneys filed an emergency motion asking for him to be remanded, arguing that he has a history of violence and “may snap again” if he wasn’t detained. A judge granted the government’s request and ordered Richmond to be detained.
The judge said that it was a close call, according to Politico. The deciding factor was reportedly the AR-15, which he was barred from owning since his manslaughter conviction.
Richmond was convicted in 2004 of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death in Iraq. A military panel determined that Richmond shot Muhamad Husain Kadir in the head while he was being placed under arrest by soldiers during a suspected roundup of insurgents. At his trial, Richmond testified that he didn’t know the man was handcuffed, and he thought he was going to attack a soldier, The Associated Press reported.
He was initially charged with unpremeditated murder, which carried a potential life sentence, but the panel reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter.
Richmond was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to three years in military prison.
Law&Crime’s Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
