Left: Michael Sparks, the very first rioter to breach the building, on surveillance footage from the Capitol. Top right: Sparks in trial exhibit shown entering through window. Bottom right: Circled in red in Justice Department exhibit, rioter Sparks approaches police next to fellow rioters Kevin and Hunter Seefried. Kevin Seefried is carrying a Confederate flag. (All images via DOJ court filings.)
Following a weeklong trial in Washington, D.C., Michael Sparks, the very first rioter to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6 — he climbed through a window smashed apart by none other than convicted Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola — has been found guilty on six charges, including felony obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder.
The Kentucky resident came before jurors in the nation’s capital for a week before they rendered a guilty verdict across six counts. Besides the felony charges, Sparks was also convicted of misdemeanor offenses including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
