Son of prominent activist convicted of storming the Capitol and entering the Senate during the Jan. 6 insurrection
The son of a prominent conservative activist was found guilty stormed the US Capitol broke a window, chased a police officer, entered the Senate and helped a mob disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory on January 6, 2021.
Leo Brent Bozell IV44, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was found guilty Friday of 10 charges, including five felonies, following a trial decided by a federal judge, according to the Department of Justice.
Bozell’s father is Brent Bozell IIIwho founded the Media Research Center, the Parents Television Council and other conservative media organizations.
U.S. District Judge John Bates heard the non-jury testimony before convicting Bozell of, among other things, obstructing the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress called to certify the Electoral College vote in which Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, defeated.
Bozell “contributed significantly to the chaos, destruction and blockade at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.” prosecutors said in a pretrial filing.
The judge is scheduled to sentence Bozell on Jan. 9.
Bozell’s attorney, William Shipley Jr., did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.
Prosecutors said that before the insurrection, Bozell helped plan and coordinate events in Washington in support of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. They said that after Trump’s rally near the White House on Jan. 6, Bozell marched to the Capitol and joined a mob that broke through a police line. According to prosecutors, he broke a window next to the Senate’s double doors, creating an entry point for hundreds of rioters.
After climbing through the broken window, Bozell, along with other rioters, chased a Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, up a flight of stairs to an area where other officers confronted the group.
Bozell was later captured on video entering the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. As he walked, he appeared to have something in his hand, prosecutors said.
As Bozell entered the Senate gallery, he pointed a C-SPAN camera to the floor so that it could not capture on live video the rioters ransacking the chamber. He also spent several minutes on the Senate floor.
Bozell roamed the Capitol for nearly an hour, reaching more than a dozen different parts of the building and passing through at least seven police lines before police escorted him out, prosecutors said.
In a pretrial fileBozell’s attorney denied that Bozell helped overwhelm a police line or use violence against police.
“In fact, video evidence will show that Mr. Bozell provided some level of assistance to law enforcement officers that he believed his assistance could be helpful,” Shipley wrote.
Shipley also argued that Bozell was “for the most part simply lost, wandering from place to place observing events as they unfolded.”
Bozell was arrested in February 2021. An FBI tipster who identified Bozell recognized him in part from the “Hershey Christian Academy” sweatshirt he wore on Jan. 6.
More than 1,100 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol insurrection. More than 650 of them have pleaded guilty. About 140 others were convicted by a judge or jury after trials in Washington.