At trial this week, a federal jury convicted a Texas couple of a series of criminal offenses for participation in the Capitol riot in early 2021 that was spurred by lies tracing to Donald Trump of a stolen election.
Defendants Mark Middleton and Jalise Middleton were both convicted of assaulting police, having reportedly committed these acts in close concert with each other during the actual Capitol violence. The seriousness of their charges suggests the pair could get years-long sentences once their consequences are issued, having missed out on the opportunity for a plea deal to potentially lessen their time spent detained.
The Middletons were outside the Capitol together just before rioters breached the building, which took place shortly after 2 p.m. “Evidence showed that Mark Middleton […] grabbed onto an MPD officer’s left hand or wrist, and pulled the officer forward towards the crowd,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for Washington, D.C., said Tuesday, referring to D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. “At the same time, a female individual, later identified as Jalise Middleton, is seen on body-worn camera footage repeatedly grabbing and striking the same officer over the barricade with her hand.”
Jalise Middleton physically struck another officer around the same juncture, according to federal authorities’ recounting. The Middletons stepped back from the confrontations after police used a chemical irritant meant as riot control. The turnaround in their proceedings was on the longer side, with initial arrests all the way back in April of 2021, merely a few months after the violence unfolded.
Mark and Jalise Middleton are actually not the only group of family members to face a slew of criminal charges for allegedly joining the Trump lie-inspired violence at the Capitol. Meanwhile, Trump himself — who remains the front-runner for this year’s presidential nomination from the Republican Party — continues characterizing detainees with criminal allegations originating in the day’s violence as “hostages.” He used the language — again — at the same recent campaign rally where he drew extensive condemnation for suggesting he’d support Russia over members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
