Maryland police officer convicted of tossing smoke bomb at police during Capitol riot [View all]
Source: ABC News/AP
August 23, 2024, 11:18 AM
WASHINGTON -- A Maryland police officer was convicted on Friday of charges that he joined a mob's Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and hurled a smoke bomb and other objects at police officers guarding a tunnel entrance.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden heard two days of trial testimony without a jury this week before he found Montgomery County Police Officer Justin Lee guilty of two felonies and three misdemeanors. The judge, who also acquitted Lee of two other misdemeanors, is scheduled to sentence him on Nov. 22.
Lee ignited and threw a smoke bomb into the tunnel entrance on the Capitol's Lower West Terrace, where a mob of rioters attacked a group of outnumbered police officers. The device struck a police officer's riot shield and filled the mouth of the tunnel with a large plume of smoke, prosecutors said. “No police officer should have to endure these attacks and provocations,” McFadden said.
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.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/maryland-police-officer-convicted-tossing-smoke-bomb-police-113100937
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