Justin Lee was a police officer in Montgomery County, Maryland, when he joined the rest of the MAGA mob on Jan 6, 2021 and rioted on Capitol Hill. He threw a smoke bomb at the cops defending it, and now U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden is getting ready to throw him in jail.
Lee, who remains free until his sentencing, didn't show any obvious reaction as the judge read aloud his verdict. His attorney declined to comment after the hearing.
After Lee's arrest last October, the police department said it had suspended him without pay. Department spokesperson Shiera Goff said police officials will be "moving ahead with termination procedures" now that Lee has been convicted.
Note the implication that he would have gotten to remain a cop had he not been convicted, despite there being no question at all about his activities that day, only whether he was criminally culpable for them: "Lee tossed the smoke bomb and three other 'rock-like objects' at officers guarding the tunnel. … Lee later joined other rioters in 'spotlighting' officers inside the tunnel with a flashlight."
Lee—taken off the beat after he shot dead a suspect in 2023, and only subsequently identified as a Jan 6 rioter— was convicted of two felonies: interfering with police and impeding officers. He was also convicted on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing. He was acquitted, though, on two misdemeanor charges of "engaging in physical violence." The AP reports that "McFadden ruled that prosecutors didn't present sufficient evidence that Lee committed an act of physical violence."
Previously:
• Pennsylvania woman who helped steal Nancy Pelosi's laptop on Jan. 6 sentenced to 3 years in prison
• Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes is sentenced to 18 years for Jan. 6 'seditious conspiracy'
• Proud Boy convicted in Jan 6 riot 'disappears' while awaiting sentencing
• 5 years in jail for Jan 6 rioter who injured cop
• Man who propped his legs on Nancy Pelosi's desk on Jan 6 found guilty
• Jan. 6 rioter who attacked Officer Michael Fanone with stun gun gets more than 12 years in prison
