KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Cases are still going through the court three years later, after a mob of Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington D.C. and overwhelmed Capitol police, interrupting a regular part of presidential elections and the transfer of power.
It is continuing to haunt Donald Trump's presidential ambitions, as he seeks to become the Republican nominee in the presidential election. Most recently, some states have debated whether he could legally be put on the ballot, citing a section of the 14th Amendment meant to prevent Confederate rebels from seeking office after the Civil War.
In East Tennessee, at least seven people were charged for participating in the Jan. 6 Insurrection. Their identities, charges and latest information on their cases are listed below. A full database of people charged with crimes at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is available through the Department of Justice.
Asbury faces charges of civil disorder, entering or remaining in a restricted building, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a capitol building and committing an act of physical violence in the capitol grounds.
The FBI said Asbury moved into a tunnel defended by police officers at around 2:50 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. They said he appeared "to lean his full body weight against the rioter in front of him (with no one pushing Asbury from behind)." They said more people joined him, pushing against him to form a "heave-ho" effort against the police line.
They said around a minute later, the mob had lost its momentum and dissipated backward. However, they said Asbury stood at the mouth of the tunnel for around two minutes with "nothing appearing to prevent him from retreating."
According to court documents, Asbury handed a police riot shield to rioters outside the tunnel, as part of an effort to disarm the police. They said he appeared to throw a police shield toward the crowd behind him at around 2:53 p.m. and other rioters followed suit, taking shields away from police officers.
According to the Department of Justice, he was arrested on June 28, 2023, after a complaint was filed the day before.
Authorities arrested Clifford Meteer on July 29 in Lexington, Ky. following the indictment on July 20, 2022. According to the indictment, a grand jury charged him with one count of being a felon in possession of firearms. The indictment said Meteer had possessed several firearms after being convicted of a felony crime.
That conviction happened before Meteer pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building. Prosecutors originally brought four charges against him for spending around 31 minutes in the Capitol building. They said there was no evidence he personally engaged in violence at the Capitol.
Around ten weapons were found after authorities executed a search warrant at his home.
Meteer was sentenced in April 2022 to 60 days in prison, 36 months probation and 60 hours of community service for the demonstration conviction. At the time, the federal judge said the weapons found in Meteer's house factored into his sentence.
According to the Department of Justice, Michael Tyler Roberts was arrested on Nov. 1, 2023, after a complaint was filed against him on Oct. 23, 2023. The complaint listed four charges against him, listed below.
- Obstruction of Law Enforcement Dming Civil Disorder, 18 U.S.C. § l 752(a)(l)
- Entering or Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds, 18 U.S.C. § l 752(a)(2)
- Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds, 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(D)
- Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct on a Capitol Building
It says he is a resident of either Knoxville, Kingston or Paint Rock. The complaint also says he spoke with another man, Ronald Colton McAbee, before they both drove from Tennessee to Washington D.C. During text changes on Dec. 31, 2021, Roberts tells McAbee that he was planning to bring brass knuckles to the capitol.
The complaint said McAbee asked Roberts where he could buy a pair of brass knuckles. McAbee was later charged with assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 riot. Roberts offered to have brass knuckles quickly shipped to his home for McAbee, according to the complaint, before they both drove up to Washington D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021.
During the riot, the FBI said Roberts tried to move near officers who blocked a tunnel into the building from a "riotous mob." In the complaint, the FBI said he moved on top of other rioters to get closer to the police line before he grappled with officers and grabbed their hands and arms.
The complaint also said before the riot, he was interviewed for a video and said he told his son he was heading to Washington D.C. before leaving. Before leaving, he said he told his son he "may not come home."
According to authorities and court records, Edward Kelley was charged with attacking an officer during the Jan. 5 Insurrection and later planned to attack the Knoxville FBI office. He was originally charged with conspiracy, retaliating against a federal official, interstate communication of a threat, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence.
He was charged with those crimes alongside another man from Knoxville, Austin Carter, according to the DOJ. Carter later admitted to the plot to kill FBI agents in a plea agreement, saying he conspired with Kelley and an unnamed "cooperating witness" to kill the agents. The plot stemmed from Kelley's arrest for taking part in the Jan. 6 Insurrection.
Carter admitted he provided the "cooperating witness" with a list of FBI employees he received from Kelley and instructed the witness to memorize and then burn the list. On December 14, 2022, Carter and Kelley "discussed plans to attack the FBI field office in Knoxville, Tennessee," according to the agreement.
Federal authorities portray Kelley as the leader of the conspiracy, according to previous reporting by WBIR.
Kelley was arrested on May 5, 2022.
According to court documents, Bart Gore, from Dandridge, was filmed several times at the Capitol grounds as crowds illegally entered the building. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a confidential source told investigators that Gore could have been one of the people at the Capitol in June 2022.
The FBI said agents interviewed him in November 2020 on a separate matter and he provided his phone number. Law enforcement compared that phone number with some information taken from a phone company, retrieved through a geolocation warrant. The FBI said his phone matched a phone that was located in the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Law enforcement also said agents found several social media accounts for Gore, and those accounts made several posts about going to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Some also described violent fantasies involving politicians.
The FBI also said it received information from Meta. In those records, the FBI said Gore sent private messages to a friend over Facebook saying he planned to go to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.
"I'd love to be the one to capture Obama or Hillary. I'd strip them naked and beat them with a belt and switch. Then I'd rest and beat them some more," the FBI said one of the messages read.
In another message, the FBI said Gore planned to bring a rifle with him to the Insurrection.
He faces charges for illegally entering a restricted building and trying to disrupt government business. He also faces charges for using threatening language in the Capitol building to try to impede a session of Congress.
Authorities said James Brooks illegally entered the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 Insurrection. He faced four charges stemming from participating in the insurrection, listed below.
- Entering or Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds
- Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds
- Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building
- Parading, Demonstrating or Picketing in a Capitol Building
Brooks pleaded guilty on Aug. 4, 2022, to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. He was sentenced on Nov. 3, 2022, to a year of probation, 60 hours of community service and to pay a $500 restitution, according to the Department of Justice.
Albuquerque Cosper Head was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after authorities said he dragged a police officer into the mob during the Jan. 6, 2021 Insurrection. A judge said he was responsible for "some of the darkest acts committed on one of our nation’s darkest days."
He was convicted of assaulting police officers who guarded a runner on the Lower West Terrace, and an officer said Head grabbed him and yelled "I've got one!" during the clash, before dragging the officer into the crowd outside the tunnel.
Head then restrained the officer while other rioters beat him and shocked him with a stun gun near his skull. During the beating, the officer lost consciousness while his body camera filmed the assault.
He also said the attack gave him a heart attack, a traumatic brain injury and cost him his career.
Head was a construction worker from East Tennessee and was arrested in April 2021. His criminal record included around 45 previous arrests.