A 34-year-old man from Kernersville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to felony charges for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The FBI said Charles Donohoe was a member of the right-wing Proud Boys. He faces up to decades in prison for conspiracy and assaulting police.
Federal investigators have arrested almost 800 people since a pro-Trump mob attacked Congress in an attempt to stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden Jan. 6, 2021. Nineteen of those are from North Carolina. Six have pleaded guilty so far from the state, but Donohoe faces some of the most serious charges.
Of the people from North Carolina sentenced so far, most have received short prison sentences and probation.
Virginia Spencer, a mother of five from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, was sentenced to 90 days in prison and three years of probation. James Little, from Claremont, was sentenced to 60 days in the Catawba County jail after his guilty plea and another three years of probation.
Many of the cases involving people from North Carolina are still making their way through court.
One defendant, Matthew Wood, of Winston-Salem, is set to go to trial in a Washington D.C. federal court on June 27.
Stephen Horn, from Raleigh, said he went into the Capitol not as a protester but to document what was happening. Horn has pleaded not guilty and plans to take his case to trial, he said in a recent interview with Spectrum News 1.
A photo from The New York Times magazine showed Horn that day wearing a black jacket and a black helmet, standing on a statue as he filmed the crowd in the Capitol.
“I was in the Capitol as a journalist,” he said. “We’re going to take it to trial and lay it out before the court.”
It’s unclear when Horn will get to make his case to the jury. He said he has another court date coming up in June.
Here’s where the 19 cases against people from North Carolina stand:
Stephen Maury Baker, Garner, N.C.
Investigators say Baker live-streamed from inside the Capitol during the attack under the name Stephen Ignoramus. He was in the Capitol for more than an hour, according to court filings.
Baker is charged with unlawful entry in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.
Baker was arrested on Feb. 1, 2021 and pleaded guilty a year later. He is set to be sentenced on May 10.
Matthew Jason Beddingfield, Middlesex, N.C.
Beddingfield is accused of some of the most serious charges in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. The FBI said the 21-year-old man assaulted police officers with a metal flagpole on his way into the Capitol and again attacked police once he was inside.
Federal agents arrested Beddingfield in Johnston County on Feb. 8. Court records show he was released on a personal recognizance bond March 17, but is essentially under house arrest at his grandfather’s home. The court said he is not allowed to have access to the internet or a smartphone while he awaits trial.
Bradley Stuart Bennett, Charlotte, N.C.
Bennett, who is from the Charlotte area, faces charges for obstructing an official proceeding, parading on Capitol grounds without a permit and other low-level offenses. The FBI said he participated in the attack with his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Williams.
The pair were identified by people who knew them and saw their faces connected to the search for the Jan. 6 attackers. Other FBI informants shared social media posts and text messages from them connecting the couple to being in the Capitol Jan. 6.
Federal agents arrested Bennett in April 21, and he pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is currently released on bond.
Aiden Bilyard, Cary, N.C.
Bilyard faces some of the most serious charges, including using a “deadly or dangerous weapon." The FBI says Bilyard sprayed a line of police officers with a can of “bear spray,” similar to mace.
According to the FBI, Bilyard used a baseball bat to break a window into the Capitol. Then he and a number of others crawled through the window and into the building, the FBI said.
In online circles who were trying to track down people caught on video in the Capitol riot, Bilyard became known as “#HarvardSweats” because of his distinctive Harvard sweatshirt, according to an FBI affidavit.
Federal agents arrested Bilyard on Nov. 22. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently released on personal recognizance, essentially a promise to appear without having to pay a cash bond.
Lewis Easton Cantwell, Sylva, N.C.
Cantwell faces six charges for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 and disrupting the proceedings.
Cantwell was arrested on Feb. 18, 2021 and is free on personal recognizance. He pleaded guilty to one charge of disorderly conduct in March and is set to be sentenced by a federal judge in September.
Charles Donohoe, Kernersville, N.C.
Court filings say Donohoe is a member of the right-wing Proud Boys and accuse him of conspiring with other members of the group to stop the certification of the election on Jan. 6.
Donohoe is charged with three other men, all members of the Proud Boys, according to the indictment. He was arrested March 17, 2021, and court records show he has been held in jail since his arrest.
He pleaded guilty to assaulting police and conspiring to attack the Capitol. Donohoe could face up to 20 years in prison for assaulting an officer and up to 30 years for conspiracy, according to court records. The next hearing in his case is in July, though court records do not list a date for sentencing.
Edward George Jr., Fayetteville, N.C.
George and another co-defendant are accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding police and stealing an American flag and flagpole from inside the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 attack, according to court records.
He is charged with nine counts, including civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and theft of government property, aiding and abetting.
George was arrested July 15. He is free on personal recognizance.
James Tate Grant, Cary, N.C.
Grant faces charges of assaulting police during the attack on the Capitol. The FBI says video shows Grant and others picking up a metal barricade and shoving an officer.
He made his way inside the Capitol, the FBI said. A search warrant for Grant’s phone found photos of him inside a Senate office, according to court filings.
Grant is charged with nine counts, including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury.
He was originally arrested in October and then charged in a new indictment in December. He has been jailed since his arrest.
Johnny Harris, Shelby, N.C.
Harris, carrying a flag and wearing an American flag shirt, was caught on video walking through the Capitol, according to the FBI. Agents say he shared photos of himself on Facebook from inside the building. He admitted to being in the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, according to the Justice Department.
He is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on capitol grounds; engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct on the capitol buildings or grounds; parading, demonstrating or picketing in the capitol buildings.
He was arrested on March 18, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to all counts. He is free on personal recognizance and has a trial date set for December 12.
Stephen Ethan Horn, Wake Forest, N.C.
A photograph shared by The New York Times magazine shows Horn in the Capitol, dressed in a black jacket and wearing a black helmet as he stands on top of a monument, according to the FBI. That photograph led people who knew Horn to identify him to the FBI.
In a Facebook post, Horn wrote, “I did not enter the capitol building as part of the protest, or for cheap thrills, but to accurately document and record a significant event which was taking place,” according to court filings. He repeated his story that he was at the Capitol as a journalist in two separate interviews with Spectrum News 1.
Horn admitted to FBI agents that he was in the Capitol and was the man in the photo on top of the monument, according to an affidavit. He faces four charges for entering the Capitol that day.
He was arrested on April 9 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is free on personal recognizance.
James Little, Claremont, N.C.
Talking to federal agents, Little admitted to entering the Capitol and spent his time inside walking around and “smiling and fist bumping other people who were also inside the Capitol,” according to an FBI affidavit.
The FBI said they tracked Little down after someone said he texted them from inside the Capitol during the attack.
He was arrested on March 24 and released on personal recognizance. He pleaded guilty to one charge of “Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building” and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years of probation.
James Phillip Mault, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Federal agents arrested Mault at Fort Bragg in October, accusing him of assaulting police during the attack on the Capitol. Mault pepper sprayed officers who were trying to keep the mob from getting in the building, according to the FBI.
Mault enlisted in the Army after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to the Justice Department.
He faces seven charges, including assaulting police and committing acts of violence on the Capitol grounds. If found guilty, he could face a lengthy prison sentence. Mault has remained in jail since his arrest Oct. 7.
Anthony Joseph Scirica, Winston-Salem, N.C.
A Snapchat account linked to Scirica shared images from inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the FBI.
He was also seen in a report on "Inside Edition" walking through the Capitol during the attack, court records say.
Scirica was arrested on June 16 and pleaded guilty to one count. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine and $500 for restitution.
Grayson Sherrill, Cherryville, N.C.
An FBI wanted poster showed Sherrill inside the Capitol wearing a red “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt and carrying some sort of stick or pole, according to federal court records.
Two family members recognized Sherrill and called the FBI, according to an affidavit.
Sherrill was originally arrested in March 2021. New charges filed in December accuse him of assaulting a police officer with a metal pole. He has been released on personal recognizance.
Christopher Raphael Spencer, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Christopher Spencer and his wife, Virginia “Jenny” Spencer, are charged together with five counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a capitol building. Virginia Spencer has since pleaded guilty.
According to the FBI, Christopher Spencer streamed video live from inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack. The video shows him chanting “stop the steal” with the crowd in the Crypt, in the center of the Capitol building.
Christopher Spencer was arrested on Jan. 19 and pleaded not guilty to all counts. He was released on personal recognizance.
Virginia Marie Spencer, Pilot Mountain, N.C.
Virginia “Jenny” Spencer was arrested after her husband, Christopher Spencer. She admitted to investigators that she and her husband were inside the Capitol during the attack, according to an FBI affidavit.
The two are seen on cameras in the Capitol walking through the Statuary Hall. Christopher Spencer streamed video of their time in the Capitol on Facebook Live.
Agents arrested Virginia Spencer on Feb. 8. In September, she agreed to plead guilty to one court of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. A judge sentenced her to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.
“This was not a peaceful gathering for protest,” District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said during the sentencing hearing in January. “She joined the insurrection.”
“My question, which I still have, is whether she’s accepted responsibility as to the significance of what she participated in, an insurrection, not just a protest,” the judge said.
Laura Steele, Kernersville, N.C.
Steele is accused of being part of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia that wore military-style uniforms to the protest and attack on the Capitol. She is charged with 16 others accused of being part of the militia.
According to the FBI, Steele applied to join the group in the days before Jan. 6. In her application for membership, she listed her past work as a police officer in North Carolina.
Steele is charged with conspiracy; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; tampering with documents or proceedings.
She pleaded not guilty to all counts and is free on personal recognizance. A jury trial is set for November.
Tara Aileen Stottlemyer, Conover, N.C.
The FBI accused Stottlemyer of joining the mob that attacked the Capitol and entering into the building without permission. She faces six charges from the attack.
Federal agents arrested Stottlemyer on Sept. 14. She has since been released on personal recognizance.
Matthew Mark Wood, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wood admitted to the FBI that he entered the Capitol and went into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, according to court records.
Wood could be the first defendant from North Carolina to take his case to a jury. His trial is scheduled to begin June 27.
He shared photos of himself on Facebook inside the Capitol and defended his actions, saying, “Our election was stolen. The system is against us. I stood up to our tyrannical government.”
One photo shows Wood standing in the Capitol Rotunda carrying a large Trump flag.
He faces several charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
He was arrested on March 5, 2021, and pleaded not guilty. He is free on personal recognizance.