Edward Richmond Jr. at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (via FBI court filings).
A U.S. Army veteran and supporter of Donald Trump previously convicted of killing an unarmed, handcuffed Iraqi man was arrested for allegedly attacking law enforcement trying to guard the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Edward Richmond Jr., 40, was charged Monday with a slew of felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly violently assaulting police at the Capitol with a baton. Prosecutors alleged that Richmond, originally from Louisiana, traveled to Washington, D.C., from Ohio with a group of around nine other people who planned to attend pro-Trump rallies in the area on Jan. 6, the day mandated by the Constitution for Congress to certify the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
Richmond allegedly came prepared for violence.
According to the complaint, Richman wore a “black helmet, goggles, shoulder pads, an orange 2-way radio, and a patch on his chest of the Louisiana state flag” as he marched on the Capitol, where scores of Trump supporters violently breached the Capitol as the certification was underway, forcing lawmakers and staff to either flee the building or shelter in place for hours.
Security footage allegedly shows Richmond in the area of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, where some of the most violent attacks on police took place. Body camera footage allegedly shows Richmond using a baton to strike law enforcement officers multiple times.
According to prosecutors, a confidential witness with a “prior continuing and close relationship” with Richmond identified him in pictures to federal investigators.
“He looks like he’s going to war,” the witness said, according to the criminal complaint.
Monday’s arrest is apparently not Richmond’s first brush with the law.
As noted by Politico, Richmond was convicted in 2004 of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an Iraqi cow herder while serving with the U.S. Army in Tikrit. A military panel determined that Richmond shot Muhamad Husain Kadir in the head while he was being placed under arrest by soldiers during a suspected roundup of insurgents.
At his trial, Richmond testified that he didn’t know the man was handcuffed and he thought he was going to attack a soldier, The Associated Press reported. He was originally charged with unpremeditated murder, which carried a potential life sentence but the panel reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter.
Richmond was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to three years in military prison.
For his alleged role in the riot at the Capitol, Richmond is charged with civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers while using a dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury on certain officers — all felonies — as well as misdemeanor disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct.
The assault charge carries the heaviest potential sentence. It normally has a maximum eight-year statutory punishment, but the use of a dangerous weapon pushes the possible sentence up to 20 years behind bars.
Richmond’s initial appearance is set for Tuesday.
