(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A man who rioted during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest told the FBI that he was a “communist” who wanted to provoke law enforcement into shooting Trump supporters.
This is according to a Tuesday court filing by the DOJ, which seeks an 88-month prison sentence for Jan. 6 participant Josiah Kenyon for allegedly damaging a Capitol window, entering the building and assaulting police officers. Kenyon was prominent among the Jan. 6 crowd for his “Jack Skellington” costume from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
When he was arrested, Kenyon told FBI agents he was an anti-Trumper, according to the DOJ.
“He told agents that he hated Trump and that he was at the Capitol on January 6 because he was ‘trying to raise the violence level.’ He claimed to be a ‘Communist; and that he wanted law enforcement ‘to shoot [the Trumpers] all down,’” the DOJ said Tuesday in its sentencing memorandum.
“He admitted to striking an officer with a table leg, first in the knee and again in the foot. His idea was to have ‘the Trumpers’ charge the police.”
NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly speculated that the reason the DOJ is seeking to incarcerate Kenyon longer than the typical Jan. 6 participant was to publicly show that it’s also cracking down on any undercover leftists who may have been fomenting violence.
“Feds are seeking what would be one of the harshest Jan. 6 sentences to date, which would have the added benefit of allowing them to go ‘See?!? SEE?!?’” Reilly said on Twitter.
Feds are seeking what would be one of the harshest Jan. 6 sentences to date, which would have the added benefit of allowing them to go “See?!? SEE?!?” https://t.co/3dUhr2ENw1
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) April 5, 2023
Reilly also noted discrepancies between Kenyon’s claim of being a communist and reports that he is, in fact, a sovereign citizen. Kenyon was reportedly living in an off-the-grid trailer near Reno when he was arrested, and spoke in “sovereign citizen, anti-government rhetoric.”
Additionally, a Go Fund Me page for Kenyon describes him as someone who protested because government COVID policies destroyed his business.
“Josiah went to the capital on January 6th to stand because he had once again lost all he had, except for his family, due to losing his business during covid lockdowns,” states the Go Fund Me post, which says it was created by “a friend of several J6 defendants.”
“He had gone from the streets, where he had been off and on since the age of 14 to a new business owner in Nevada performing custom work and repairs on guns, producing leather accessories, and making knives. In this manner he was hoping to support his family on 40 acres that he had owner-financed in Nevada.”
Kenyon is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
