WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A Bruceville-Eddy man charged in connection to last year's Jan. 6 Capitol riot pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges prior to his federal trial that started in Washington, D.C. Monday.
Christopher Grider is charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors for his alleged role in the riot. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts: temporary residence of the president; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on capital grounds; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building.
As far as the other seven charges, if he is found guilty, he could face up to 40 years in prison.
Grider didn't take two plea deals offered to him and chose to have District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly decide his verdict and sentencing.
Kollar-Kotelly was appointed to the United States District Court in May 1997. She is working many of the bench trials involved in the Capitol breach.
So far the longest sentence for someone in the riot has been ten years. Most defendants are facing a couple years in prison followed by a couple months of supervised released, according to the U.S. Attorney General's Office website.
It's unclear how long Grider's trial will last as his defense fights multiple charges. However, it is expected to go quicker now as it is a bench trial, not a jury trial.
According to a criminal complaint, Grider was seen in several areas of the Capitol on Jan. 6 before arriving at the Speaker's Lobby where a woman named Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot.
He was also seen holding a black helmet and later handing it to another person who used it to break the glass windows of the doors leading to the House chambers, according to the complaint. Video showed him trying to push open the doors and then kicking them.
Prosecutors went through texts that Grider sent to both his wife and his mother about what went on inside the Capitol. Grider reportedly told his wife he put on a helmet because he was worried about Antifa. He also reportedly told her he wasn't sure if he had pushed the Speaker's Lobby doors or not.
Prosecutors also showed video of Grider talking to a crowd outside of the Capitol through a microphone. He reportedly said that he smelled gunpowder when Ashli Babbitt was shot and suggested multiple times that she had been shot for no reason and USCP refused to help her.
According to court documents, Grider's attorney had asked a judge to dismiss five of the charges against him. They include accusations of civil disorder, obstruction of an officials proceeding, and 3 counts of being in restricted buildings or grounds.
That request was denied.
According to Grider, he claims he went to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021 with no intention of rioting, but he said he got caught up in the mob of angry supporters of President Donald Trump.
Grider is one of the owners of Kissing Tree Vineyards at 109 W. 3rd St. in Eddy.