Pardoned Capitol rioter sentenced to life for assassination plots
A military veteran who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and was pardoned by President Donald Trump, has now been sentenced to life in prison – this time, to Tracking for murder dozens of federal agents.
On Wednesday, the American district judge Thomas Varlan brought up to Edward Kelley, a former sailor from Maryville, Tennessee on Wednessee, after a jury condemned him for conspired federal employees, requesting a violent crime and tried to influence federal officials by threats.
Kelley – One of the first rioters to break the Capitol – was taken on video to help throw a police officer on the floor and use a piece of wood to break a window. He was the fourth person to enter the building through this broken glass, According to the FBI.
But that’s what came after January 6 that sealed his fate.
Almost two years later, Kelley joined another man to plot a violent attack on FBI FBI Knoxville, Tennessee, field office. Prosecutors said the plan involved Use of bombs and car drones rigged with explosive devices. Pending his trial for his role in the attack on the Capitol, Kelley also compiled a “killing list” of 36 officers responsible for the application of laws – many of which are linked to his arrest in 2022 – although he intended to assassinate.
During the hearing on Wednesday, more than a dozen of these targets sat in the courtroom As Kelley received his sentence. Judge Varlan also rejected Kelley’s release request Appeal pending.
“Proof at trial has established that Kelley has targeted the police because of their role provided in the civil war that Kelley hoped to initiate and because of his animus,” said prosecutors wrote. They described Kelley as a self -proclaimed “patriot” who felt justified to target federal agents, motivated by revenge and extreme ideology.
Kelley used encrypted messaging applications to coordinate with cocoonspirators, including Austin Carter, who is expected to sentence next month. Carter testified that he And Kelley organized military style training at the end of 2022.
Despite Trump’s first day, the first day leniency order for more than January 1,500 defendants, The judge ruled that Kelley Land – which was centered on a The assassination plan in Tennessee – was not linked and therefore not covered.
“The offenses for which the defendant was found guilty by an East Tennessee jury The products of the voluntary acts independent of the accused “,” Prosecutors wrote in a February court deposit. “They are not linked to events or near the American capital on January 6, 2021. “
Kelley, who served eight years in the Marine Corps and was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is now one of the rare rioters of January 6 still behind bars after Cover pard. He is barely the only one WHO recurrent.
Related | The former FBI agent accused of having exhorted to kill cops on January 6 joined Trump’s DOJ
In contrast, another participant of January 6 – the FBI agent, Jared L. Wise, who would have been recorded by shouting “Kill ‘Em! Kill ‘Em! Kill ‘Em! ” While rioters attacked the police – is not in prison. He is now working in the Trump Ministry of Justice, advising the so-called “arms working group” alongside the lawyer Ed Martin.
Kelley’s case underlines how some rioters were ready to leave – and how much Their fate diverged.
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