- A Military veteran and winery operator was sentenced to nearly seven years behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, where he was part of a crowd that tried to enter the Speaker’s Lobby when police fatally shot protester Ashli Babbitt.
- Christopher Grider, 41, of Eddy, Texas, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to two misdemeanors and was found guilty on seven counts related to his actions during the Capitol riot.
- U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Grider on Tuesday to 83 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release and ordered him to pay $5,055 in restitution and an $812 fine, court documents show.
- After entering the Capitol, Grider pressed buttons on a utility box and yelled, “Turn the power off!,” prosecutors said. He also waved more rioters into a hallway outside of the House Chamber and then ran to the Speaker’s Lobby door, where he pushed on the door and gave his helmet to another rioter, who proceeded to break the door’s windows.
- Grider was seen backing away from the door as people in the crowd yelled, “gun,” before a police officer fatally shot Babbitt, officials said. Grider held his phone over a stairway to apparently try and capture a video or pictures of Babbitt as she bled on the floor.
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Military Vet Near Babbitt When Fatally Shot By Police Sentenced to 6-Plus Years In Prison
FILE - Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has scheduled its next hearing for Oct. 13, 2022, pushing the investigation back into the limelight less than three weeks before the midterm election that will determine control of Congress. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
