A new attorney is now representing a Yellville man charged with participating in the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Thirty-nine-year-old Jon Thomas Mott faces three charges, each carrying a maximum federal prison sentence of six months plus fines.
The new attorney, Joseph W. Allen of Branson, was allowed to enter the case by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia last month.
The attorney indicates in his filings with the court that he is also representing another of the participants in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
That man is Sean Michael McHugh from Auburn, California, whose charges are more serious than those filed against Mott.
McHugh’s charges include assaulting officers, tampering with a witness, entering a restricted building carrying a deadly weapon and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
It is alleged he hit officers with signs, sprayed them with “bear spray” and utilized a megaphone to urge the crowd on. In the initial information filed in the case, McHugh is shown engaged in activities on which his charges are based.
McHugh is said to have made reservations at a Washington, D.C. hotel for himself, a female and male whose names are not contained in the “Statement of Facts” filed in McHugh’s case.
There is also no connection spelled out in court documents between Mott and McHugh beyond the fact they now have the same area lawyer in common and are both charged with participation in the January 6 riot.
MOTT’S ARREST
In May last year, FBI agents arrested Mott in Yellville. He has entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him
According to information in Mott’s court file, government agents conducted pre-arrest physical surveillance of Mott Jan. 28 and Feb. 5 last year.
He is accused of being among the estimated 2,000 people who stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 last year in a failed attempt to halt certification of the vote in the 2020 election.
The congressional process was delayed for a time and former Vice President Mike Pence and members of the House and Senate were evacuated to safer quarters.
Rioters occupied a number of areas in the Capitol, including offices and the meeting chambers for the Senate and House of Representatives.
There were also threats to kill elected officials, including Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
At least five people were killed during the siege or in its aftermath, including several police officers attempting to protect the Capitol and those inside.
COST ESTIMATED IN THE MILLIONS
The Architect of the Capitol has estimated up to $30 million would be necessary to make repairs and pay other costs associated with the attack.
Glass was broken out of doors and windows, offices were looted, and furniture destroyed or stolen.
In doing a survey of the building, it was found historic paintings and statuary had been sprayed with fire extinguishers and yellow dye. Many of the empty extinguishers were shown being thrown at police by rioters.
Restitution is being assessed to the defendants to help defray repair and replacement costs.
MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE
Investigators have put together thousands of pieces of evidence from the day of the riot, including video from a variety of sources.
In several video segments, a bearded man identified as Mott, is seen in various parts of the Capitol rotunda. In one, he shows signs, including red swollen eyes, of having been sprayed with tear gas or similar chemical irritants. He is also pictured pouring water on the face another rioter.
Mott is also allegedly shown pushing against the baton of a Metropolitan Police Department officer. Mott was allegedly heard to say, “don’t touch me,” and, “if you don’t touch me, I won’t touch you.”
In a statement of facts included in Mott’s federal court case, investigators write the Yellville man went to Washington with an individual from Oklahoma, apparently an acquaintance.
Mott has been free on a personal recognizance bond.
SOME GUILTY PLEAS ENTERED
A number of people who participated in the attack on the Capitol have pled guilty, or have been found guilty by juries.
The longest prison sentence handed down to date is 10 years recently given to a retired New York City cop who was part of the mob.
A Florida man has been given five years in prison. He was charged with discharging the contents of a fire extinguisher toward a police line at one entrance to the Capitol, then throwing the empty canister and a plank at officers.
When he was sentenced, the man told the court he had recently viewed a video of his actions and could not believe what he was seeing. He said he was “ashamed” of himself.
QANON SHAMAN
Jacob Anthony Chansley, a 35-year-old man from Arizona, who was dressed in a fur hat complete with horns and red-white-and-blue face paint during the riot was sentenced in November last year to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Chansley, whose bizarre costume was the subject of many photographs taken during the attack, was dubbed the “QAnon shaman.”
While he was waiting for his case to move into the federal courts, Chansley was kept in a local lockup in Arizona.
His mother, Martha Chansley, filed a protest alleging her 33-year-old son, who was living in her basement at the time of his arrest, was not being fed correctly.
She said he could not eat anything but organic foods that the jail he was in did not provide. A judge ruled that Chansley should be provided with foods he could eat.
He is currently serving his sentence at a federal correctional facility in Safford, Arizona.
EXCUSES ABOUND
According to court records, as rioters have gone before judges to be sentenced, they have offered up a number of excuses for participating in the effort to stop the certification of the 2020 election by attacking one of the major symbols of American democracy.
Many are blaming Donald Trump. One man told the court, “they kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was ‘our duty’ to stand up to tyranny. We just got suckered in.”
Those with knowledge of members affiliated with ultra-right-wing “militia” type groups, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, allege the members were involved in a conspiracy to carry out a coordinated attack on the Capitol.
A status conference in Mott’s case is scheduled for September 30. It is currently set to be conducted by way of a video hookup.
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