The founder of “Cowboys for Trump” avoided more jail time for breaching restricted Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. A judge blistered New Mexico County Commissioner Couy Griffin for continuing to claim he was innocent, but also gave him credit for time-served.
Otero County Commission Chair and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin maintained his innocence in a statement to the court Friday. He said he didn’t know the grounds were restricted, that he was led by “faith” to the foot of the Capitol. | Jeenah Moon/Getty ImagesNew Mexico County Commissioner and “Cowboys for Trump” founder Couy Griffin avoided additional jail time Friday for breaching restricted Capitol grounds on Jan. 6.
But McFadden, a Trump appointee, said Griffin’s conduct, while clearly criminal, fell on the low end of the range compared to other Jan. 6 defendants and noted that Griffin had already spent 20 days in jail while awaiting trial, an unusual circumstance for a misdemeanor case. Griffin’s case became a significant benchmark among the more than 800 defendants charged for their actions on Jan. 6. He was the first misdemeanor defendant to go to trial, electing to have a bench trial before McFadden — meaning the judge, and not a jury, would decide the case. McFadden found him guilty on one count of entering and remaining in a restricted area, and he acquitted Griffin on a charge of violent or disorderly conduct in a restricted area.
No evidence showed Griffin ever entered the Capitol, a fact McFadden repeatedly noted, but video evidence showed he climbed over retainer walls and used a toppled barricade to reach the restricted area of the Capitol, where he remained for hours. He also spent a long stretch atop the platform erected for President Joe Biden’s inauguration, where he watched some of the chaos unfolding below and remarked on the scent of chemical sprays officers and rioters deployed.
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