(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
A man who was involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot has been convicted of plotting to kill the FBI agents who investigated him, NBC News reported Wednesday.
The man, identified as Edward Kelley, was among the first rioters to breach the Capitol as the results of the 2020 election were being certified. For his involvement in riot that day, Kelley was charged and convicted last month of assaulting law enforcement officers and other crimes.
On Wednesday, Kelley was convicted of three additional charges related to the plot. According to NBC’s report, co-defendant Austin Carter testified that he and Kelley plotted “to murder employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation” months after Kelley’s arrest. Kelley also kept a list of at least 37 law enforcement officials who worked on his case, the Department of Justice viewed the document as a “kill list.”
During the trial, which began Monday, Carter claimed that Kelley thought “the country was heading toward civil war” and that he “wanted to strike first.” Kelley initially targeted the FBI field office in Knoxville, Tennessee, but later shifted his focus to the agents who worked on his case.
It also came out during the trial that Kelley was recorded while talking about developing a “course of action.” He instructed someone to “take out their office” if he was arrested again and repeatedly said, “Every hit has to hurt.”
For his Capitol riot case, Kelley will be sentence on April 7. A month later, he’ll be sentenced for the assassination plot.
