The ongoing Justice Department’s investigation into the January 6, 2021 Capitol Attack is still in full swing, with arrests, hearings, grand juries and indictments every day.
Patrick McCaughey III, 25-years-old from Connecticut, was one of the supporters of former President Trump who attended the rally. During the event, he was filmed using a riot shield against Officer Daniel Hodges from the Metropolitan Police Department. He was heard screaming at Hodges to “just go home.” The video is also posted on YouTube.
One other rioter joined the commotion and forcibly removed Officer Hodges’ gas mask, exposing his injured mouth. While McCaughey was pinning Hodges down, several rioters pushed the officer, adding more weight and pressure to the shield. Some people also managed to take Hodges’ baton, which they used to hit his head. The police officer later recounted that he thought that he would not make it out alive. Hodges was able to live through the incident, but another officer was beaten to death and died the next day.
On Sept. 13, 2022, more than a year after the riot, McCaughey was finally convicted of seven felonies and two misdemeanors, which included assaulting and interfering with law enforcement officers, obstruction of legal proceedings, disruptive conduct in a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, physical violence in a restricted area, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and violence in the Capitol Building.
Tristan Chandler Stevens, 26-years-old and 63-year-old David Mehaffie were convicted with him. The three were arrested in different locations: McCaughey in South Salem, New York last January 19, 2021; Stevens in Pensacola, Florida last February 5, 2021; and Mehaffie in Kettering, Ohio last August 12, 2021.
The judge, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, acquitted Stevens and Mehaffie of the most serious obstruction charge, which would have sentenced them up to 20 years in prison. The judge said that the offense hadn’t been proven. It was the first incidence of an acquittal of a January 6 Capitol Attack defendant on a felony charge. The three men are scheduled to hear their sentences in January of next year.
