Two Marines who were on active service at the time they overran the US on Monday, Capitol admitted to charges relating to a riot.
Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen are due to be sentenced by US District Judge Ana Reyes in September.
Two Active-Duty Marines Admit to Capitol Riot
According to a representative for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, both pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol structure.
Despite the fact that several of the rioters had previously served in the military, very few of them were still actively serving when they attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
A third Marine who is currently on active service, Micah Coomer, was also charged with Abate and Hellonen. Coomer entered a guilty plea to the same misdemeanor allegation in May, and Reyes will sentence him on August 30.
All three guys face a maximum sentence of six months in jail. As of May 19, the Marines were still in service.
Abate’s lawyer, David Dischley, declined to comment on his client’s admission of guilt. A message seeking comment from the assistant public defender who is defending Hellonen did not receive a prompt response.
The three people that were arrested in January were Abate in Fort Meade, Maryland, Coomer in Oceanside, California, and Hellonen in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
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Witness Testimony and Post-Riot Actions Revealed
The FBI claims that witnesses who saw the riot on January 6 and were stationed with Coomer at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia and Hellonen at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina recognized them.
According to the FBI a third witness, a Marine, recognized Abate on video that was recorded within the Capitol.
Abate allegedly admitted during a security clearance interview in June 2022 that he and two buddies had crossed the Capitol on January 6 and attempted not to get hit by tear gas.
A third witness, a Marine, recognized Abate on video that was recorded within the Capitol.
Authorities assert that before taking images of a monument in the Rotunda, they attached a red ‘Make America Great Again’ hat to it.
The three males were inside the Capitol for almost an hour before they left.
More than a thousand people have been charged with federal charges as a result of their actions on January 6 at the Capitol.
Owing to their actions, about 600 of them have admitted guilt, mostly to misdemeanors carrying maximum jail terms of six months or a year.
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