Four Inland Empire residents who traveled together to Washington, D.C. in January 2021 to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally were convicted on Tuesday, Nov. 7, of various charges related to the breach of the Capitol grounds as Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the presidential election.
Convicted of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding, both felonies, after a 17-day jury trial in Washington, the U.S. Department of Justice said, were: Erik Scott Warner, 48, of Menifee; Felipe Antonio “Tony” Martinez, 50, of Lake Elsinore; Derek Kinnison, 42, of Lake Elsinore; and Ronald Mele, 54, of Temecula.
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Warner and Kinnison were also convicted of tampering with documents or proceedings, a felony, after they erased social-media chats from their phone to hide them from a grand jury investigation.
All four were also found guilty of misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
A sentencing date has not been set yet.
The men were members of the Three Percenters, a group that says it believes only 3% of American colonists took up arms against the British during the American Revolution. Some liken the current U.S. government to British authorities who infringed on civil liberties.
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Attorney Nicolai Cocis, who is representing Kinnison, said his client viewed the drive to Washington as a “road trip” to back Trump.
“While I respect the jury’s decision, I’m disappointed with the verdict,” Cocis wrote in an email. “Mr. Kinnison is a patriotic citizen who wanted to show his support for President Trump, who he believed was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. He regrets his…
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