A judge handed down a split verdict to the founder of the group 'Cowboys for Trump,' who was the second defendant to be tried in connection to the Jan. 6 attack.
Key to the government's case was proving whether Griffin knew he was joining the pro-Trump mob in a restricted area that had been established to protect former Vice President Mike Pence as he presided over Congress' certification of Biden's election win.
In her testimony on Monday, Hawa gave the first on-the-record confirmation from the agency of a detail previously first reported by ABC News'-- that Pence was escorted underground to a loading dock area where he remained for"several hours" as the mob stormed through the Capitol. Instead of facing a jury, Griffin had opted for a bench trial, leaving his fate in the hands of Judge McFadden, aappointee who has in the past raised questions about whether the Justice Department has been"even-handed" in its approach to the Jan. 6 riot, which took place amid the racial unrest following George Floyd's death in the summer of 2020.
Prosecutors also pointed to Griffin's conduct in the days following the riot, when he posted videos to his Facebook page saying that he had"climbed up on the top of the Capitol building and ... had a first row seat," and called for another"Second Amendment rally" outside the Capitol, saying,"if we do, then it's going be a sad day, because there's going to be blood running out of that building.
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