Background: FILE — Violent rioters loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File). Insets, top to bottom: James Link Behymer, Donald Lee Moss (Dept. of Justice court filing).
Two Indiana men have admitted to fighting with police on Jan. 6 as hordes of angry Donald Trump supporters descended on the Capitol building.
Donald Lee Moss, 62, of Elizabethtown, Indiana, and James Link Behymer, 61, of Hope, Indiana, pleaded guilty to one count each of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, federal prosecutors announced Friday. According to court filings, the two friends were part of the riotous crowd of Donald Trump supporters who faced off against Metropolitan Police Department officers outside the Capitol as Congress was set to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.
They joined a mob that surrounded officers and shouted obscenities and curses at them at around 2:01 p.m. that day, despite being told to move back.
“Sir, step back for your own safety,” one officer said, extending his hand toward Behymer, according to court documents. After other officers echoed this instruction, Behymer responded defiantly.
“USA! USA! USA!” he shouted, while simultaneously Moss pointed toward the Capitol building and shouted: “This is our f—ing house!”
As an officer extended his hand to keep Behymer back, Behymer swung his fist down, striking the officer’s wrist, prosecutors said. When the officer again tried to move Behymer back, he struck the officer’s arm again while Moss shoved the officer’s hand off Behymer.
“Get your f—ing hand off of him!” Moss shouted as the mob constricted around the police. After hitting the officer, Moss forcefully pushed another officer from behind.
Moss and Behymer were among the mob as the chaos escalated.
“F— you! F— Nazis!” rioters shouted. “Go back to the Gestapo training camp!” Members of the crowd also called the officers “traitors.”
Moments later, Behymer grabbed an officer’s hand and baton while the officer tried to keep Behymer away. This went on for a few minutes, prosectors said.
The two ultimately entered the building at around 2:13 p.m., which is when rioters smashed some of the Capitol’s glass windows and started to stream inside. After encouraging other rioters to enter the building, the two men made their way toward the Capitol Crypt and the hallway toward the Senate Wing doors.
At around 2:31 p.m., Moss is seen on surveillance footage crossing the Crypt lobby and placing it “directly in the path of the retractable ceiling door to prevent the door from closing,” prosecutors said.
Donald Lee Moss, circled in red, left, is seen putting a chair below a retractable ceiling in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (Dept. of Justice court filing).
Rioters’ success in keeping the gate open was a significant factor in the Capitol breach, authorities said.
Around 10 minutes later, the two exited the building, only to go back in again around 10 minutes later after rioters broke through a barricade set up at the Senate Wing doors. They ultimately exited the building for good at 3:34 p.m.
The charge carries a potential eight-year prison sentence. Moss and Behymer will be sentenced on Feb. 13, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the Barack Obama appointee who is also overseeing the federal criminal Jan. 6 case against Trump.
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