Mid-South man found guilty for role in Jan. 6 Capitol riot

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A jury found a Mid-South man guilty for his role in the riots at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.

Matthew Bledsoe, 38, was found guilty of the felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding, and four misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol Building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

Prosecutors say Bledsoe, who lives in Olive Branch, attended a rally on January 6 and illegally entered the Capitol building after scaling a wall and walking in through a fire door at the Senate Wing.

He was heard yelling, “In the Capitol. This is our house. We pay for this s---. Where’s those pieces of s---at?”

Bledsoe was arrested one week later.

NBC News reports that Bledsoe argued that he was unaware that Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election win when he stormed the Capitol. Despite having received updates from his wife and brother about congressional proceedings inside the Capitol on the day of the riot, he told jurors that he had no idea what lawmakers were doing.

When prosecutors confronted him with a text he sent to his wife, saying it was “good” that someone planted bombs near the Capitol, Bledsoe said he really didn’t mean “good.” He also claimed he didn’t really mean it when he wrote that he “stormed the Capitol.”

He will be sentenced on October 31. The obstruction charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, while the misdemeanor offenses carry a maximum of three years.

Since the Capitol riot, more than 850 people have been arrested for related crimes.

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