Cleveland, Tennessee, man in Capitol breach trial found guilty on … – Chattanooga Times Free Press

A Cleveland, Tennessee, man who pushed police barricades on Jan. 6, 2021, throwing a flagpole like a spear in the direction of officers defending the U.S. Capitol, was convicted Wednesday on 10 counts in an 11-count indictment.

Joseph Lino "Jose" Padilla, 42, opted for a bench trial instead of a jury trial, meaning the judge issued the verdict.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates found Padilla not guilty of using a large metal Trump sign as a battering ram against police but found him guilty as charged on the other 10 counts, including the assault with a flagpole. The conviction related to the flagpole carries the highest potential penalty in sentencing.

Bates set Padilla's sentencing for 2 p.m. Sept. 13. Padilla will remain in custody until his hearing, and each side will submit sentencing memos on Sept. 6, Bates said.

Closing arguments Wednesday morning brought an end to the three-day trial. Padilla took the stand Tuesday in his own defense.

U.S. Assistant Attorneys Doug Brasher and Andrew Haag and Padilla's lawyer, Michael Cronkright, focused mostly on what both sides contend are the most serious of the 11 counts one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Bates repeatedly asked questions of the lawyers and sought clarity in their arguments before he retired to deliberate on the case just before noon Wednesday. Descriptions of Padilla by each side veered from a raging rioter bent on a government takeover to a patriotic fan of police who was looking to right a wrong, express his First Amendment rights and help rescue a police officer.

Brasher in his closing statement said Padilla's self-portrayal as a patriotic lover of democracy is belied by his actions.

"There's nothing patriotic about violently attacking police officers, officers like Sgt. Jason Cropper, detective Sgt. Owais Akhtar, Capt. (Carneysha) Mendoza, Sgt. Paul Riley and officer (Oscar) Corado," Brasher said of law enforcement officers who testified Monday and Tuesday in Padilla's trial.

Padilla repeatedly broke the laws those officers were attempting to enforce in protecting the Capitol while Congress met inside to certify the Electoral College vote in the 2020 election of Joe Biden as president, Brasher said.

"On Jan. 6, 2021, Jose Padilla didn't back the blue," Brasher told Bates.

Padilla that day ignored physical barriers, police warnings and commands to get back, Brasher said. Instead Padilla attacked police, pushed bike racks against them and pushed a large metal Trump sign toward them like a battering ram and then threw the flagpole.

"Most of all he tried to get past the officers into the Capitol, so he could achieve by force what he could not do by voting," Brasher said.

Bates pressed Brasher for clarity and sufficient evidence that Padilla's 8-second contact with the Trump sign amounted to trying to use it as a battering ram and qualified the sign as a "dangerous weapon."

Attacking or Defending?

Regarding the flagpole, Brasher said Padilla's contention he was attempting to help an officer who had fallen down fails when video evidence showed he apparently ignored rioters at the same moment near the downed officer, including one with a crutch, another with his hands on an officer's gas mask, one with a large wooden stick, another throwing a canister, others with stolen police riot shields and batons, along with many other violent acts.

Brasher said after the flagpole was thrown, Padilla appeared unconcerned about the officer hit by the projectile.

Cronkright in his closing statement to Bates said Padilla had made some unanticipated concessions during the trial, admitting to assaulting an officer, but the metal sign was never used by Padilla as a weapon and the flagpole was thrown because Padilla was trying to protect a police officer who had fallen in the crush at the Capitol doors.

Cronkright said Bates' determination on these issues would play into his decisions on the other counts against Padilla.

There was no way to attach to Padilla's intentions that day to those of other rioters at the Capitol, Cronkright said, and the court would have to make a call on whether Padilla, in the moments he had contact with the Trump sign, was actually pushing it into police or if Padilla was trying to erect it, as he testified.

Padilla testified a man with a megaphone shouted, "Put it up here," which he said was an "awesome" idea.

The flagpole, Cronkright said, was thrown because Padilla was responding to a dangerous situation he believed was taking place. He was focused on the downed officer who was surrounded by rioters, including one in a red hat he testified he thought had picked up an ax handle to assault the officer on the ground.

"Our assertion is that in the case no crime was committed because it is a lawfully justified action," Cronkright told Bates.

In the government's second half of closing statements, Haag and Bates discussed the assault counts and whether they fit standards of a simple assault charge a one-year penalty or assault involving physical contact an offense carrying a potential eight-year term.

According to trial testimony, Padilla in January 2021 was a stay-at-home dad in Cleveland, Tennessee, living with his wife and three sons. The couple have been married for 18 years. Padilla served in the Army National Guard for about 11 years, including time in Iraq as a signal support systems specialist. He was honorably discharged in October 2012, according to testimony. Padilla testified he now has a 100% disability rating for post-traumatic stress disorder but he said it had no effect on his ability to testify.

Padilla was arrested after an anonymous tipster identified him from videos posted online during and after the breach. Those videos became the focus of most of the first two days of the trial.

'Internet Bravado'

Considerable trial testimony also surrounded Padilla's posts on social media after Jan. 6. Padilla dismissed his posts as "rhetoric," "exaggeration" and "internet bravado." Many of the posts were on the site thedonald.win, while others were on Facebook and other platforms, according to testimony.

On Jan. 7, 2021, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Padilla posted the following message on his Facebook page:

"There's a lot of memes and posts flying around saying that the people who were fighting last night were all Antifa provocateurs etc. I just want to say that as a first-hand observer of every point of last night, that it was not Antifa. They were Patriots who were trying to Restore the Republic after being attacked by the cops, who struck first. Even those who broke the windows next to the doorway to the Capitol were Patriots trying to find a way to turn the Flanks of the cops."

On Jan. 14, 2021, law enforcement attempted to interview Padilla, who responded, "I do not answer questions," the complaint states.

Between Jan. 7-18, 2021, Padilla posted numerous comments in chats on the website, thedonald.win, including five singled out in the complaint and in trial testimony and presented here without editing:

"After I had my right hand knuckles and ring finger crushed for just talking to an officer I knew was a soldier and reminding him of his duty to refuse unlawful orders, I got pissed, and so did many others. That's when we started pushing."

"I was right there. I have the wounds to prove it. I pushed the rails, I pushed the stairs, and then pushed the doorway. I was beaten unconscious twice, sprayed more times than I care to count, received strikes from batons that should have been lethal (Multiple temple and carotid strikes) except that God was on my side."

"They may have let the first group in for the fear mongering. The rest of us they smashed our hands, tased us and sprayed us for the crime of standing at the railing yelling. Then we got pissed and started to push. Then they ran up the stairs and we followed, and I think God the guys on the left of the building were able to push up the stairs, allowing the capture the second tier and start knocking on the Capitol Building doors."

"Honestly, the guy breaking the windows weren't Antifa. They were Patriots trying to find a new way in so we could flank the cops who were holding the doorway."

"If we could have occupied the Capitol, we could have invoked the right given to us in the 2nd paragraph of the Declaration of Independence....We would have been in the Seat of Power. All we would need to do is declare our grievances with the government and dissolve the legislature, and replace it with Patriots who were there. Then simply re-adopt the Constitution with amendments added to secure future Federal elections."

Padilla has remained in federal custody in Washington since his arrest Feb. 23, 2021, and he pleaded not guilty to charges March 30, 2021.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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