A Florida man and self-identified Proud Boy was found guilty in the District of Columbia of all charged felony and misdemeanor counts for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Christopher Worrell, 51, of Naples, Florida, was found guilty on May 12, 2023, of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, and obstructing, impeding, or interfering with officers during the commission of a civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, engaging in physical violence with a deadly or dangerous weapon all felonies, and an act of physical violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings, a misdemeanor. The verdict followed a five-day bench trial before U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who commented in reading the verdict that the defendant’s defense that he had been pepper spraying other violent rioters, instead of U.S. Capitol Police officers, was “preposterous” and that the defendant’s testimony presented an “unbelievable” and “false narrative” that was “undermined by the contradictions and post-January 6 false statements identified by the government during Mr. Worrell’s cross-examination and the government’s rebuttal case.” Judge Lamberth scheduled sentencing for August 18, 2023.
The evidence at trial showed that, on January 6, 2021, Worrell was a member of the “Hurricane Coast Zone 5” Proud Boys chapter. In the weeks leading up to January 6, Worrell and other members of the Proud Boys shared their animosity toward the police in an encrypted chat application. On the morning of January 6, Worrell, dressed in a tactical vest and carrying two canisters of pepper gel, marched with other Proud Boys from the Washington Monument to the United States Capitol. He passed U.S. Capitol Police officers and warned them not to resist, saying “honor your oaths, on your knees,” and “don’t make us go against you.” Worrell and other “Zone 5” members breached the restricted perimeter and reached the West Plaza of the Capitol by approximately 1:00 p.m. He then filmed himself calling the U.S. Capitol Police officers “scum,” “piece[s] of “sh**,” and “commies,” among other expletives and insults.