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- A Virginia man who destroyed media equipment on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty to two felonies on Friday.
- Prosecutors say Joshua Dillon Haynes despatched a number of texts boasting about his function within the siege.
- More than 900 people have pleaded guilty in connection to the riot up to now.
A Virginia man who boasted about destroying media equipment outdoors the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, pleaded guilty on Friday to two felony counts associated to the rebel.
Joshua Dillon Haynes, 40, was initially charged with seven counts in connection to the siege following his July 2021 arrest, together with acts of bodily violence and violent entry. But as the federal government works to prosecute the more than 900 people arrested in reference to the assault, federal prosecutors have supplied some rioters lesser charges in trade for his or her guilty pleas.
On Friday, Haynes pleaded guilty to one felony depend of obstruction of an official continuing and one felony depend of destruction of property. The two charges carry a doable 25-year most sentence, although Haynes’ plea deal signifies he will seemingly face between 27 to 33 months in jail when he is sentenced in January.
Photographs from the scene present Haynes amongst a bunch of rioters who broken tens of 1000’s of {dollars} price of media equipment, together with cameras, tripods, and lights, prosecutors stated. One member of the media who was compelled to flee from the encroaching mob estimated that the destroyed equipment from his information group alone was price between $30,000 and $34,000, in accordance to court documents.
In textual content messages to mates all through the day, Haynes boasted about breaking “lotsa stuff” and kicking “the fake news ass.”
“We attacked the CNN reporters and the fake news and destroyed tens of 11 thousands of dollars of their video and television equipment,” Haynes despatched in a textual content together with a photograph of the pile, in accordance to prosecutors.
In a separate textual content that day, Haynes stated he had already seen himself in video reviews from the scene however famous that he had saved his face coated.
“I want to get busted for tearing up the nations capital [sic] and the fake news,” he wrote, in accordance to court docket paperwork.
Prosecutors stated Haynes additionally assisted two different rioters who eliminated an air con unit from a window contained in the Capitol and then dropped it to the bottom.
Haynes admitted to the acts in federal court docket on Friday, in accordance to WUSA and Law & Crime.
A lawyer for Haynes didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s request for remark.
