Daniel Gray, circled, pleaded guilty to pushing a cop down stairs during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Gray was sentenced to 30 months behind bars. (U.S. Department of Justice)
A Florida man will spend the next 30 months behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot when he assaulted a police officer, according to the Department of Justice.
Daniel Paul Gray, 43, of Jacksonville, pleaded guilty in October to obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. According to a probable cause statement reviewed by Law&Crime, body camera video showed Gray breaking through a police line to get into the building and then pushing a Capitol police officer down some stairs, causing her to be injured. Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence were interrupted by the rioters while trying to certify the results of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
Gray, a former mixed martial arts instructor and bartender, bragged about his actions a couple days after the incident in an Instagram video.
“A female cop stole my phone and I got mace’d… and I’m like you know what, we’re doing this so we literally pushed them from the front steps of the Capitol all the way back,” he said.
He also said he encouraged the U.S. Capitol police to “stand down” and to go home to their families. He admitted to “pushing them [the police] down the staircase.”
Then he said: “This is far from over, that was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life and stay tuned.”
Gray made no secret that he believed the election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, calling it “the biggest scandal of my lifetime” in a Nov. 21, 2020, Facebook post. On Dec. 12, 2020, he posted he was “really excited at the possibility of the insurrection act being implemented” on Jan. 6, 2021. In the post, he noted the Wikipedia page about the Insurrection Act of 1807.
“Here is the move ya’ll. If they intend to certify a false election it’s gonna have to be to our faces.”
He also sent a private Facebook message to another person that said “are you gonna be in DC on the 6th like trump asked us to be?”
In addition to the prison sentence, Gray will be on parole for three years and must pay a $2,000 fine.
Gray’s attorney in a sentencing memorandum blamed his actions on his drug and alcohol abuse following a divorce and Trump’s lies about the stolen election. He also wrote a letter of apology, saying in the time since the riot he’s “achieved a certain amount of clarity.”
“I willfully ruined my life and this is all my fault,” he said. “There is no great conspiracy. I saw an incredibly volatile and dangerous situation and I dived in head first. I am ashamed of myself and my actions, and I am in complete shock at the level at which I was able to destroy my own life.”
More than 1,300 people have been charged in the riot so far, including 450 who assaulted a police officer, prosecutors said.
