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WASHINGTON — A West Jordan man has pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge related to the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Justin Dee Adams, 49, entered a plea agreement in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers. Other charges were dropped in exchange for his plea, including interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and related misdemeanor offenses.
FBI agents arrested Adams in West Jordan on Oct. 19, 2022. Court documents say Adams, a licensed gun dealer, went to Washington to protest Congress' certification of the Electoral College vote in January 2021. Documents say he marched to the Capitol building, joined a mob on the Upper West Plaza and charged at police.
Body camera footage shows Adams confronting the police line defending the building at 2:04 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. He charged at the police line, attacking Metropolitan police officers and hitting one twice on the head, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The U.S. Attorney's Office also said Adams tried to remove a metal bike rack police were using as a barricade, and that when an officer tried to stop him, Adams threw a plastic bottle at the officer and dragged the rack away from the police with the help of another rioter.
"We safely made it out of Washington D.C. before the lockdown, and before the gunfire of the capitol police," Adams later wrote, per the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Got a little roughed up but the politicians are no longer meeting the standards We the People require our elected officials to meet. Great times are coming, but difficulty will be required before."
Adams' sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 8.
