Background: FILE — Violent rioters loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File). Insets, left to right: Paul Orta, Jr. walking toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; Orta throwing a police barricade over a wall on Capitol grounds (Justice Dept. court filing).
A Minnesota man seen tossing a police barricade over a wall during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will himself have to spend half a year behind bars.
Paul Orta Jr., 34, of Blue Earth — a city near the southern border of the state, some 120 miles away from Minneapolis — had traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend Donald Trump’s so-called “Stop the Steal” rally, planned for Jan. 6. But he landed on law enforcement’s radar even before that: prosecutors say that Orta was one of four people on a privately-owned school bus that had been flagged to Maryland police the day before the rally.
The driver and owner of the bus were eventually arrested after firearms and ammunition were found on the bus, but Orta was searched and released by police twice — first by officers in Maryland on Jan. 5, and later that day in downtown Washington, D.C., by Capitol police.
It is unclear if Orta attended Trump’s rally — during which the then-president urged thousands of his supporters to “fight like hell” against the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win — on Jan. 6, but by around 1 p.m. that day, he had joined a crowd of rioters that had begun to overwhelm police at the Peace Circle monument.
U.S. Capitol Police ultimately retreated from the area and tried to set up a new police line, prosecutors say, but some in the crowd — including Orta — pressed forward.
“We’re taking that s— today!” he yelled as he advanced toward the officers, prosecutors say. Within minutes, he had moved at least two temporary bike racks used by law enforcement to control the crowd, throwing them over a concrete wall. He continued to push the crowd forward, overwhelming officers again and entering the West Plaza on Capitol grounds. At around 2:07 p.m., prosecutors say, law enforcement again tried to form a police line with a metal bike rack. Orta allegedly pushed the barricade against police and “made physical contact with law enforcement officers during this push,” the Justice Department said in a statement. He then pushed against another rioter, who in turn was pushed against the bike rack barricade.
“The crowd eventually broke through the police line and advanced to the Lower and Upper West Terraces,” the statement says. “As the crowd pushed forward, Orta climbed on top of a concrete wall and raised a fist in the air.”
By the end of the month, he had turned himself in to federal authorities after having seen his picture on the FBI website, according to court filings. He was ultimately arrested in November 2023. He pleaded guilty in May to felony civil disorder, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years.
A sentencing memo on behalf of Orta said that he is “remorseful for his actions, deeply regrets his conduct, and is prepared to accept responsibility and the consequences for his actions.” He asked for a “non-custodial sentence with appropriate special conditions” along with $2,000 restitution.
The sentence, issued by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, is exactly half as long as the yearlong sentence prosecutors had requested. Orta was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution toward the estimated $2.8 million in damage and 12 months on supervised release.
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