A Colorado man was found guilty in the District of Columbia on Friday of three felony charges for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Jeffrey Sabol, 53, of Kittredge, Colorado, was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, federal robbery, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting. Sabol was convicted following a stipulated bench trial before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. Sabol is to be sentenced on Jan. 19, 2024.
According to the government’s evidence, Sabol traveled to Washington, D.C., with several members of what he had described as a “neighborhood watch” group to attend a January 6 rally at the Ellipse.
Sabol brought a trauma kit, a buck knife, a helmet, and zip ties to the rally. After the event, Sabol and at least one other member of the group walked to the Capitol. As they approached, Sabol observed that, in his words, “a battle was already going on” and heard munitions (which Sabol believed were flashbangs) in the distance. Along the way, Sabol separated from the group and began grappling with the police officers who were protecting the Capitol grounds.
At about 2 p.m., U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers were positioned to the west of the Capitol building. Many of the officers carried riot shields. At 2:04 p.m., Sabol and another man pushed a third rioter – who himself was holding a riot shield – from behind, propelling him forward so that he ran into the police line. As the officers worked to repel them, Sabol kept pushing against the police until a USCP officer pushed back, causing Sabol to fall down a set of steps.
At about 2:33 p.m., Sabol and another rioter grabbed at a helmet-visor held by an MPD officer and engaged in a tug-of-war over it. Sabol then made his way to the Lower West Terrace tunnel and archway. At approximately 4:27 p.m., an MPD officer near the archway was knocked to the ground. As the officer attempted to defend himself, Sabol reached for the officer’s baton, grabbed it, and ripped it out of his hands. Sabol used such force in wrestling the baton from the officer that he fell backward down the steps.
Sabol climbed back up the Lower West Terrace steps, moved towards the archway, and assisted two rioters dragging another officer down the steps and into the mob, where the rioters beat the officer with a flagpole and a baton.
In the days following January 6, Sabol deleted text messages and other communications from his cell phone. He also asked another individual to delete a “selfie video” which depicted Sabol immediately after he had been pepper sprayed and in which Sabol stated that he had “tried to rush the front gate, the front door.” Sabol also destroyed his laptop computers in a microwave oven and dropped his cell phone into a body of water.
Sabol booked a flight to Zurich, Switzerland. When he was unable to board the aircraft, he rented a car and drove toward Westchester, New York, where local law enforcement arrested him on Jan. 11, 2021.
This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Read more at the Justice Department
