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Man convicted of plotting to kill agents after Jan. 6 probe

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES
                                In an image provided by the Department of Justice, Edward Kelley is seen on Jan. 5, 2021. Kelley was found guilty of conspiring to murder the agents two weeks after he was convicted at a separate trial of assault and other charges related to the Capitol attack.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES

In an image provided by the Department of Justice, Edward Kelley is seen on Jan. 5, 2021. Kelley was found guilty of conspiring to murder the agents two weeks after he was convicted at a separate trial of assault and other charges related to the Capitol attack.

A Tennessee man who was among the first wave of rioters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was convicted Wednesday of separate charges of plotting to kill the FBI agents who investigated his role in the attack.

At the end of a three-day trial in Knoxville, Tennessee, the man, Edward Kelley, 35, was found guilty of charges that included conspiracy to murder federal employees and threatening federal agents. Two weeks ago, Kelley was convicted of assault, civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding by a federal judge at a bench trial in Washington for his role in the Capitol attack.

The twin convictions were a reminder that the prosecutions of those who attacked the Capitol on behalf of President-elect Donald Trump are continuing even though Trump has vowed to pardon many, if not all, of them when he reenters the White House in January. Trump could also end any further investigations related to the attack, which is the largest single criminal inquiry the Justice Department has ever undertaken.

Court papers say that in 2022, while Kelley was at home awaiting trial in his Jan. 6 case, he formed a group “that was preparing for armed conflict against the United States government and its personnel, specifically including FBI agents.”

Prosecutors say he drew up a list of 37 people who were involved in his arrest or who helped to search his home as part of the investigation, targeting them for assassination. Kelley shared the list with two co-conspirators, prosecutors say, one of whom — Christopher Roddy — ultimately gave it to authorities.

Accompanying the list of names that Roddy turned over, court papers say, was a computer thumb drive that contained video footage from Kelley’s home security camera showing a law enforcement officer approaching his home on the day of the arrest.

During an interview with federal investigators, Roddy, who testified at the trial, said Kelley had informed him about putting the list together in early December 2022 and asked him to reach out to his “cop buddies” about collecting information on the targets.

Roddy secretly recorded Kelley asking him at one point to attack the FBI’s office in Knoxville, court papers say.

“You don’t have time to train or coordinate,” Kelley said, according to papers, “but every hit has to hurt.”

Prosecutors say Kelley was wearing a gas mask and a green tactical helmet when he showed up at the Capitol on Jan. 6. He scuffled with a Capitol Police officer on the west side of the building, throwing the officer to the ground.

He then used a long piece of wood to shatter a window near the Senate wing door, breaching the Capitol, prosecutors say. After he got in, they said, he helped kick open a nearby door, allowing more members of the mob to enter the building.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2024 The New York Times Company

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