Patrick McCaughey III, of Connecticut, was seen crushing a Metropolitan Police Department officer in a door frame during the January 6 Capitol riot. On September 13, he was convicted of nine offenses, seven of which are felonies.
The felonies McCaughey was convicted of are: three counts of aiding or abetting or assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, including one involving a dangerous weapon; obstruction of an official proceeding; interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Two others, Tristan Chandler Stevens, from Florida, and David Mehaffie, from Ohio, were found guilty of five felony charges and two felony charges, respectively, alongside McCaughey.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said, “the three defendants attempted to break into the building by directing other rioters, participating in heave-hos against the police line, using riot shields stolen from the Capitol Police, and assaulting three specific officers. Mehaffie hung from an archway and shouted direction from above, and McCaughey and Stevens were key players in the melee below. McCaughey grabbed a riot shield and used it as a weapon. Even after officers finally cleared the tunnel area, the three defendants illegally remained on Capitol grounds.”
All three defendants were convicted of assault charges. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadde, a Trump appointee presiding over the case, added a dangerous weapon enhancement to McCaughey’s conviction, which could increase his eventual sentence.
According to the Justice Department, McCaughey will be sentenced on January 26, 2023. He is likely to serve decades in prison.
