J6 verdict inspires mockery: 'Only thing that stops a bad man with a tomahawk is a gavel'

"The only thing that stops a bad man with a tomahawk is a gavel," one lawyer wrote after a Jan. 6 Marine vet attendee who carried a tomahawk to the U.S. Capitol was found guilty of seven felonies.

Alex Harkrider, 36, of Carthage, Texas, was tagging along with his pal and co-defendant Ryan Nichols to Washington D.C. with a shared belief that "the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent," according to a DOJ release.

The federal prosecutors say Nichols and Harkrider exchanged text messages, including one featuring a snap of body armor, suggesting it "would protect against various bullets." In another, Nichols sent Harkrider about arming his pickup:

“Dad and I are building a gun container in the truck today," the text reads. "Just know I have intel that Washington will be a warzone. Big possibility that actual battle goes down.”

During the "Stop the Steal" rally, both Harkrider and Nichols, decked in body armor, were in attendance at the Ellipse and proceeded to march toward the U.S. Capitol building.

"Harkrider was armed with a tactical tomahawk axe," prosecutors said.

READ MORE: Five unresolved questions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack

The two surrounded the arched entrance to the Lower West Terrace doors, also known as the tunnel, which the authorities say was where some of the "most violent assaults on law enforcement officers on January 6th" happened.

They say Harkrider pushed the crowd against service members in the tunnel "in synchronized movements" and grabbed a "stolen police canister of O.C. spray" and "held it above his head for more than ten seconds, and passed it to other members of the crowd."

Harkrider and Nichols were arrested on Jan. 18, 2021.

Nichols pleaded guilty on Nov. 7, 2023, to obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, both felony offenses.

Harkrider’s defense suggested he was oblivious to what was transpiring at the Capitol.

“Alex is the follower,” his attorney Kira Anne West said. “Ryan is the leader.”

Following his trial, Harkrider was convicted of the following felonies: civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Harkrider was also found culpable of theft of government property, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

He is set to be sentenced in May, according to various reports.

"Such a peaceful protest," said another social media user after reports of the tomahawk-wielding rioter.

"Here’s hoping Alex the Tomahawk Terrorist gets a nice long stay in the pokey," another user wrote Tuesday.