'They started the Capitol breach': Men who cleared path for rioters on Jan. 6 convicted

Five men who cleared the path for rioters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have been found guilty, according to prosecutors.

The men, who didn't know each other previously, threw linked barriers into a crowd of police officers, knocking one of them unconscious. They continued to fight with police and encouraged others to push forward.

They were convicted Friday of assaulting law enforcement and three counts of obstructing the confirmation of the 2020 election's results.

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“These are the defendants who started it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra F. Foster said in her Nov. 2 closing argument. “There is little doubt that this moment ignited a fire that lasted around the Capitol for hours … They started the Capitol breach. Now they must take responsibility.”

Attorney Stanley Woodward, who represented 39-year-old defendant Ryan Samsel, said that the five defendants were not the ones who started the riot.

“I think history, and only history, will tell us who started the riot on Jan. 6,” Woodward said. “But we can’t, in good faith, submit that one person, or even five people, are culpable for the events that day.”

Samsel's co-defendants are James T. Grant, 31, of Cary, N.C.; Paul R. Johnson, 38, of Lanexa, Va.; Stephen C. Randolph, 34, of Harrodsburg, Ky.; and Jason B. Blythe, 28, of Fort Worth, Tx.

Read the full report over at The Washington Post.