A Ridgefield man has been found guilty in U.S. Federal Court for his role in the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th of 2021.
Patrick E. McCaughey III, 25, was found guilty of nine charges, including seven felonies. Those charges include four counts of “aiding or abetting or assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, and one count of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.”
McCaughey was found guilty alongside two other men: 26-year-old Tristan Chandler Stevens of Pensacola, Florida, and 63-year-old David Mehaffie of Kettering, Ohio.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, McCaughey traveled to Washington, D.C. where, during the riots, he and Stevens taunted Capitol police officers at the West Front. Sometime later, when the rioters broke through the police line, McCaughey was accused of stealing a police riot shield and using it as a weapon.
“Between 2:41 p.m. and 3:19 p.m., the three defendants attempted to break into the building by directing other rioters, participating in heave-hos against the police line, using riot shields stolen from the Capitol Police, and assaulting three specific officers,” says the U.S. Attorney’s office.
These three are among the nearly 900 individuals who have been arrested on charges stemming from the events of January 6th. Investigations are ongoing. McCaughey is set to be sentenced on the charges on January 23rd of next year.
