Global Courant 2023-04-21 04:57:47
Ladera Ranch resident Russell Taylor, who once sent a message that he wanted to be “one of the first to break through the doors” of the U.S. Capitol, on Wednesday agreed to a plea deal in federal court in Washington, D.C. for his role in the January 6 uprising.
Taylor, one of six members of a Southern California group known as the DC Brigade, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The agreement means that several additional charges against Taylor, including unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on capitol grounds and in buildings, were dropped. In return, the government can call Taylor to testify against his co-conspirators.
Taylor’s accomplices, according to court records, include former La Habra police chief Alan Hostetter and Riverside County Three Percenters militiamen Derek Kinnison of Lake Elsinore, Felipe “Tony” Martinez of Lake Elsinore, Erik Scott Warner of Menifee, and Ronald Mele of Temecula.
The men were charged on June 9, 2021, and Taylor was arrested the next day in Orange. He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment on June 28, 2021.
According to court documentsTaylor and members of the D.C. Brigade stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, with Taylor referring to the act as the start of an “uprising!”
Taylor said during a protest before the Supreme Court on Jan. 5 that “we will fight and we will bleed before we allow our freedoms to be taken from us,” Taylor said. court documents.
He and his fellow insurgents did not accept the legitimacy of the 2020 election and, according to court documentsplanned not to leave Washington until “this election is made right, our freedoms are restored, and America is preserved.”
Court documents say Taylor, Hostetter and others met in the Ellipse near the White House for a January 6 speech by then-President Trump and then marched to the Capitol.
Taylor wore a bulletproof vest with black plates and had a knife in his vest pocket and a stun stick in his backpack. court files said.
Because of the knife according to court documentsTaylor was denied access to the Ellipse by the Secret Service because of Trump’s speech.
Court records say Taylor led a group of insurgents on the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace into the building and warned police not to get involved, saying, “Last chance, guys. Go back!” Taylor, however, did not enter the building.
In the days leading up to the uprising, Taylor helped organize “a group of fighters” in a private, encrypted group chat via the instant messaging app Telegram, according to court records. More than 35 members participated in the California Patriots-DC Brigade planning thread.
“I assume you have some kind of weaponry that you carry and also (body armor),” he is quoted in court documentssuggesting the group brings axes, bats, and large metal flashlights.
In court documentsother members of the group sent word that they were bringing firearms to Washington.
Taylor’s journey to the Rebellion began last spring. Hostetter founded the American Phoenix projectone based in San Clemente non profit, in 2020 and railed against COVID-19 restrictions.
The duo also reinforced Trump’s stolen election claims.
Both spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Huntington Beach on Dec. 12, 2020, during which Hostetter said America’s “enemies and traitors … must be held accountable,” according to court documents. He advocated long prison terms and executions.
Taylor and Hostetter, according to court documents, began communicating via Telegram with other members of the DC Brigade.
On Dec. 20, Taylor posted a link to a Trump tweets from earlier in the day. In the message, the president said it was “statistically impossible to lose the 2020 election” and that there would be “a major protest in D.C. on January 6.”
Taylor asked the members, “Who’s going?”
