January 6 riot conviction of ‘Cowboys for Trump’ founder is upheld in precedent-setting case

(CNN) — The federal appeals court in Washington, DC, on Tuesday upheld the conviction of the Cowboys for Trump founder who entered the restricted area of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, saying rioters didn’t have to know the Secret Service was protecting then-Vice President Mike Pence inside when they breached the area.

The case is among a handful that tested the foundational approach the Justice Department took to prosecute hundreds of Capitol rioters, and the decision has been long-awaited since it was argued last December by those handling cases coming through the DC federal court.

It also strengthens federal protection the Secret Service can offer, by defining more clearly the law around trespassing in areas where public officials are being protected.

“The basis of the Secret Service’s authority to prevent access to designated areas for the safety of its protectees … need not be in the mind of the trespasser,” DC Circuit Judge Nina Pillard wrote in the opinion Tuesday.

The unsuccessful challenge to the law was brought by Couy Griffin, a New Mexico local official who organized a group called Cowboys for Trump, who jumped a stone wall outside the Capitol to board the inauguration stage. Griffin was convicted of two misdemeanors, including the trespassing charge, and was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a year of supervised release.

“In [Griffin’s] view, the statute also requires proof that he knew why the Capitol grounds were so restricted when he entered or remained there —i.e. that a Secret Service protectee was or would be temporarily visiting the Capitol grounds. We decline to adopt such a rule,” Pillard wrote in the 2-1 opinion. “Griffin’s approach would surely hinder the Secret Service’s capacity to handle the full range of potential threats.”

It’s possible Griffin continues to fight his trespass charge with further appeals, including potentially to the US Supreme Court, which has shown interest in reinterpreting the law around the Capitol riot.

Griffin previously asked the Supreme Court to hear a different legal challenge he brought related to January 6, following his removal from an elected public office. A judge jettisoned Griffin from his role as a New Mexico county commissioner, and the high court declined to hear his case seeking reinstatement.

An attorney for Griffin from the federal public defender service didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Trump appointee dissents

The three-judge panel had one dissenter, Judge Greg Katsas, a Trump appointee. Judge Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee, sided with Pillard, an Obama appointee, in the majority opinion.

In his dissent, Katsas said he believed prosecutors should have had to prove Griffin knew the seriousness of the protected area where he was trespassing and that Pence could be there, in addition to proving that he knew he was crossing into a prohibited area.

“Needless to say, a trespass that threatens the life or safety of the President or Vice President is substantially more culpable than a simple trespass consisting of nothing more than knowingly entering an area ‘posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted,’” Katsas wrote.

“Trespassers unaware that someone like the President or Vice President is present are much less likely to pose a threat to those officials than are individual who knowingly trespass into an area restricted to protect them,” the judge added.

Katsas noted that among the 470 trespassing convictions of January 6 rioters that prosecutors have secured, trial court judges in DC split on how much those rioters had to know of Pence’s presence at the Capitol.

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