The son of conservative author and commentator L. Brent Bozell was found guilty of five felonies and five misdemeanors for smashing windows and entering the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Leo Brent Bozell IV, 44, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was found guilty by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding; two counts of destruction of government property; civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; act of violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Judge Bates set sentencing for Jan. 9, 2024.
Mr. Bozell came to the Capitol after President Donald Trump’s speech at the Ellipse. He used a bicycle rack barricade as a makeshift ladder to gain access to the northwest stairs and was one of the first protesters to surge past police to reach the upper terrace level, according to prosecutors.
Outside the Senate Wing Door, Mr. Bozell used a hard object to smash one window 10 times, then moved over a few feet and smashed another window 11 times until the glass shattered, prosecutors said. He entered through a broken window at 2:13 p.m.
Once inside the Capitol, Mr. Bozell entered the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Mr. Bozell was part of a crowd that forced open the inner Rotunda doors just inside the famous Columbus Doors entrance to the Capitol, court papers alleged. He tried to open the doors to several areas, including the Senate majority leader’s office and the Law Library, prosecutors said.
Mr. Bozell was one of the first protesters to enter the Senate Gallery.
At 2:49 p.m., Mr. Bozell proceeded to the Senate floor, where he stayed for six minutes.
‘Lost and Wandering’
During most of Mr. Bozell’s time inside the Capitol, he was “simply lost and wandering from place-to-place observing events as they transpired,” defense attorney William L. Shipley wrote in a trial brief.“Mr. Bozell was inside the Capitol for an extended period of time after entering through the broken window, but at no time was he engaged in any type of physical or violent confrontation with police officers or Congressional staff,” Mr. Shipley wrote.
Video evidence shows that Mr. Bozell “assisted in some small way law enforcement officers that he thought could be helped by his assistance,” according to Mr. Shipley. In one instance, “he attempted to aid a police officer who had been sprayed in the face with pepper spray, offering to assist him with a bottle of water to wash his face and eyes.”
“Such video evidence is not only mitigating, but it also goes to the issue of ‘intent’ and ‘state of mind’ of Mr. Bozell during his encounters with law enforcement and other authorities in the course of events on January 6, 2021,” he wrote.
Mr. Bozell was arrested in Pennsylvania on Feb. 12, 2021. He was initially indicted on seven criminal counts. A superseding indictment issued on April 26 increased the number of charges to 10.
