GOP House Candidate Phillip Grillo, Who Led Mob Through Broken Window In Capitol On Jan. 6, Convicted – Says He Didn’t Know Congress Met In Capitol

On December 5, Phillip Grillo, a New Yorker running for election to the U.S. House to represent New York’s Third Congressional District, was found guilty in the District of Columbia on six charges.

One of his charges was felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other charges related to his behavior during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

This congressional candidate had been found guilty of five charges, as well as one felony, by a federal jury in Washington, D.C.

He was convicted for obstructing an official proceeding, committing misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, displaying disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, as well as disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, while also parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building.

Judge Royce Lamberth will sentence Grillo on a day that will be decided by the court.

The evidence shown during the New Yorker’s trial suggested that he led a group of rioters on the day of the breach, where he was standing toe-to-toe with the police line on the West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds.

A short time after he was seen on these grounds, it appeared that he was holding a megaphone and unlawfully entering the Capitol building through a broken window near the Senate Wing door at about 2:20 p.m. Once he got in, he made his way up the stairs to the Rotunda.

As Grillo went up the stairs, someone inside the Capitol interviewed him. They recorded the interview on video.

The interviewer then asked him this question, “Look at me and tell me what you’re here for?”

He responded: “I’m here to stop the steal. It’s our f—ing house!” After this, he continued on further into the Capitol.

Approximately 15 minutes later, he was caught on surveillance video footage with a large group of rioters trying to leave the building’s rotunda and enter a foyer consisting of doors leading outside, where more rioters came together.

The United States Capitol Police officers tried to stop the rioters’ progress and forbade them from moving forward. The mob and the congressional candidate had to force their way past these officers and make their way to the rotunda’s outside entryway doors.

Grillo was one the first few people to make it past the officers and part of the mob when he approached these doors guarded by three officers. They managed to get past them and enter through the doors, which helped more rioters enter.

The candidate entered the doors to the terrace area on the Capitol’s East Front where many other rioters gathered. He recorded himself several times on his cell phone.

Grillo exclaimed this in one of the recordings: “We f–ing did it! We got to the Capitol building. We f–ing did it! We f–ing did it, baby! We f–ing did it, you understand? We stormed the Capitol. We shut it down! We did it! We shut the mother…!”

He then entered and exited the Capitol three more times and could be seen pushing up against police officers multiple times.

There was another recording on his cell phone showing him smoking marijuana.

“Our house! Who’s smoking grass? Can I get a hit it of that s—?” he asked.

One of the other videos showed Grillo giving other rioters high-fives after smoking marijuana inside the building.

Grillo testified during his trial that he did not know that Congress met inside the Capitol, but confessed that he is running for Congress.

Grillo was arrested by the FBI on February 23, 2021, in New York.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are currently prosecuting Grillo’s case. Assistance was offered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York offered some assistance.

The FBI’s New York and Washington Field Offices are investigating the case, with the help of the United States Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

For almost three years, the investigation of individuals involved in crimes related to the Capitol riots is still ongoing, with over 1,230 rioters being charged with crimes. Some of these people include 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

In August, former President Donald Trump was indicted on four counts of illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election.