WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal judge found a Windermere man guilty of four crimes on Wednesday connected to his actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
John Edward Crowley, 51, was arrested in August of 2021 along with four other members of a group dubbed “B Squad” -- a subset of another group called Guardians of Freedom.
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Investigators said the group identified with the ideology of the Three Percenters, which is a movement that claims only three percent of the colonists of the United States stood up against Britain.
According to the FBI’s investigative report, the government alleged 45 members of B Squad traveled from Florida to D.C., where they stayed at a hotel near the Capitol.
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Investigators claim members of the group, armed with knives, batons, and pepper spray, were seen on closed-circuit surveillance video entering the tunnel at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, where they joined the crowd in trying to “heave-ho” passed law enforcement.
On Tuesday, Crowley faced a bench trial at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where his attorney presented his defense, and prosecutors presented their evidence against him.
On Wednesday, Judge Trevor McFadden found Crowley guilty of civil disorder, entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct inside a restricted building, and impairing passage inside the U.S. Capitol.
He was found not guilty of aiding and abetting the theft of government property and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building.
Crowley is set to be sentenced on Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C.
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