A Philadelphia man who participated in last year’s Trump-incited mob attack on the Capitol with his son was found guilty this week at a bench trial of five criminal charges tied to the riot, including obstruction of an official proceeding.
The obstruction charge is a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison if found guilty, although no rioters have received a sentence close to that level as of this point. (The longest sentence actually imposed was 10 years.) The newly convicted rioter, 63-year-old James Douglas Rahm Jr., was also found guilty by federal Judge Thomas F. Hogan of misdemeanors including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Collectively, those misdemeanors add a possibility of up to three years to the sentence Rahm is facing. His sentencing is scheduled for January 18 of next year — marking yet another riot-related criminal case that will be continuing after the midterm elections.
Rahm, who was not accused of directly perpetrating violence but was among the rioters who went inside the building, upon whom the Justice Department has largely focused, evidently filmed himself making comments at the Capitol that rather clearly established the kind of intent needed for a conviction of obstruction under the relevant legal standards. “I think we stopped the vote,” he yelled to fellow rioters, who cheered. Other riot participants facing the charge have claimed ignorance about use of the building by members of Congress and that when they yelled about wanting to find “those pieces of shit” they didn’t mean members of Congress. Both those rioters, New Jersey Nazi sympathizer Timothy Hale-Cusanelli and Tennessee wall-climbing aficionado Matthew Bledsoe, were convicted. Rahm, meanwhile, was carrying a flag when he entered the Capitol though the East Rotunda Doors, after which he spent about ten minutes inside. He was originally arrested in February of last year.
James Rahm III, Rahm’s son, was also criminally charged for his participation in the riot at the Capitol, where he also went inside the building. On the older Rahm’s phone was eventually a selfie of the pair outside the Capitol, which he sent to an ex-wife of his who’s the mother to the younger of the duo. “That’s so GREAT!!! Don’t post JD’s pic plz,” the mother replied, referring to the son. Rahm III — perhaps unintentionally — captured footage that showed his father entering the Capitol. Rahm Jr., the father, claimed he urinated in an office of House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who recently revealed footage from the midst of the riot showed personally involved in trying to assemble a National Guard response to the attack. Pelosi also directly communicated with then-acting head of the Justice Department Jeffrey Rosen, to whom she expressed urgent concerns about the personal safety of those the mob was targeting. “The concern we have is about personal safety — it just transcends everything,” she said to Rosen.
Image: Brett Davis/ Creative Commons
