Official guilty of illegally entering Capitol grounds Jan. 6

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has convicted an elected official from New Mexico of illegally entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct during the riot that disrupted Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden heard one day of testimony without a jury Monday before handing down a verdict Tuesday in the misdemeanor case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin. Griffin’s Washington, D.C., trial was the second among the hundreds of federal cases arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, siege. Griffin is among the few riot defendants who wasn’t accused of entering the Capitol building or engaging in violent or destructive behavior.