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Tennessee man involved in Capitol riot guilty of plot to kill federal agents Tennessee man involved in Capitol riot guilty of plot to kill federal agents
(about 16 hours later)
Edward Kelley created ‘kill list’ of FBI agents and others who investigated his role on January 6, prosecutors say Edward Kelley created ‘kill list’ of officials who investigated his role in January 6 attack, justice department says
A Tennessee man who was arrested for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021 was convicted on Wednesday of planning to kill federal investigators. A Donald Trump supporter convicted for his part in the deadly January 6 attack on Congress was convicted a second time, this time for plotting to kill FBI special agents.
Edward Kelley, 35, was found guilty in Knoxville of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, and influencing a federal official by threat, the US attorney’s office said in a news release. Edward Kelley, from Tennessee, developed a “kill list” of officials who investigated his participation in the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, the US Department of Justice said, after the conviction was secured on Wednesday.
Kelley, of Maryville, was one of hundreds of rioters arrested on charges of illegally entering the US Capitol. While awaiting trial, Kelley developed a plan to kill law enforcement, including FBI agents, prosecutors said. He faces up to life in prison at sentencing in May. “Every hit has to hurt,” Kelley said in recorded remarks, according to the justice department. “Every hit has to hurt.”
Kelley developed a “kill list” of FBI agents and others who participated in the investigation, according to prosecutors. He distributed the list, along with videos containing images of FBI employees, to another person as part of his “mission”. Court records show that a witness provided the list of 37 names to a police department in Tennessee. Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on 6 January 2021, after Trump told them to “fight like hell” to overturn his conclusive defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Nine deaths are now linked to the riot, including law enforcement suicides.
A cooperating defendant who has pleaded guilty in the conspiracy testified that he and Kelley planned attacks on the FBI’s Knoxville office using car bombs and incendiary devices attached to drones. They strategized about assassinating FBI employees in their homes and in public places such as movie theaters, prosecutors said. Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection but acquitted when enough Senate Republicans stayed loyal, leaving him free to run for office again. The former president still claims the 2020 election was affected by widespread electoral fraud – a lie he has not pursued about the 2024 election, in which he beat Kamala Harris.
Kelley was recorded saying “every hit has to hurt”, according to evidence presented at trial. Nearly 1,500 people have been charged over the January 6 riot and more than 1,100 convicted. Trump has repeatedly promised pardons.
Kelley – a 35-year-old anti-abortion activist from Maryville, Tennessee – was the fourth rioter to enter the Capitol on January 6. Prosecutors said he was carrying a gun.
Earlier this month, Kelley was convicted of three felonies – assaulting law enforcement, civil disorder and destruction of government property – and eight misdemeanors. He is due to be sentenced on those charges on 7 April next year.
On Wednesday, in a separate trial in Tennessee, a jury took just an hour to unanimously convict Kelley of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing a federal official by threat. Sentencing was scheduled for 7 May.
According to the US justice department, “a cooperating defendant, who previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy, testified that he and Kelley planned attacks on the Knoxville FBI field office using car bombs and incendiary devices appended to drones”.
The cooperating defendant “also testified that the conspirators strategized about assassinating FBI employees in their homes and in public places such as movie theaters”.
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Kelley made “videos containing images of certain FBI employees” identified on his “kill list”, the department said.
The FBI director, Christopher Wray, said: “While awaiting trial for committing violent acts, Edward Kelley planned and conspired to attack our employees at work and at home for carrying out their duties. The FBI will never tolerate violent threats against our workforce or any of our colleagues in law enforcement and will continue our work to ensure they are held accountable.”
Trump has called those convicted over January 6 “warriors”, “unbelievable patriots” and “hostages”.
Last week, the Trump transition team told NBC Trump would “make pardon decisions on a case-by-case basis”.