Joseph Irwin, in the green jacket, and John Richter, in the gray jacket, were convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. In the inset photo, Richter wields a pole with a pointed metal tip. (Photos from court documents)
Two flagpole-wielding men who got their pictures taken sitting at senators’ desks in the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, have been convicted of crimes related to the insurrection.
Joseph Irwin, 43, of Kentucky, and John Joseph Richter, 39, of Florida, were found guilty this week, prosecutors said in a news release. Irwin was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, trespassing with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and picketing in a Capitol building. Richter was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, trespassing, disorderly conduct and picketing in a Capitol building. The men are set to be sentenced on Aug. 9.
In text messages, the men planned their trip to Washington to obstruct the certification of the Electoral College vote during former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, according to a statement of facts that lays out the case.
“The stage has been set,” Richter said.
“Are we go open militia or innocent/ready bystander,” Irwin asked Richter.
“Well I think we are gonna be in a huge crowd mostly,” Richter responded. “So we will have to be opportunists most likely.”
They planned for the potential for violence at the Capitol, listing what they would bring — goggles, battery banks, full-face respirators and an all-black metal-pointed American flagpole.
“All black flag means no quarter will be given,” Richter said in a message. “It’s time to do patriot s—.
“It’s gonna be wild,” he added, according to prosecutors.
Richter allegedly followed up with a video.
“Do you feel it?” he is heard saying on the video, according to court documents. “The storm has arrived. Jan 6, 2021 in DC. Be there, it’ll be wild. It’s time to do patriot s—. Ready up.”
Irwin boasted his “wooden stick is heavy as f—,” officials said.
Poles in hand, the men marched on the Capitol that day and up to a line of police officers.
“Go Home!!” Irwin allegedly yelled at the police as he smashed his pole into the ground.
At one point, he broke his pole in two pieces, prompting Richter to take his metal pole apart and hand Irwin the piece with the metal tip, officials said.
Banging their poles on the ground, the two allegedly entered the Capitol building at 2:43 p.m., minutes after the Parliamentarian’s door had been breached.
When the men got to the Senate floor, Irwin allegedly screamed in a selfie video while banging his flagpole on the floor: “THIS IS OURS RIGHT HERE! THIS IS OUR HOUSE! THIS IS WHAT THE COURT DO WHEN THE COURT TAKE IT! DON’T GIVE IT BACK TO THEM NOW!”
They posed for a photo taken by a fellow rioter as they sat at senators’ desks holding their poles before police corralled rioters out of the room.
The men are alleged to have celebrated their actions from that day: Irwin framed his wooden pole in a shadowbox and called it a “Relic.”
He was arrested on Aug. 17, 2021, after the FBI received tips from the public. Richter was taken into custody on March 2, 2023, authorities said.
In the 40 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,420 people have been charged for crimes related to the Capitol breach, authorities said.
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