Jacksonville man sentenced to prison for role in Jan. 6 Capitol breach

WJAX
·3 min read
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The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that a Jacksonville man was sentenced to prison on two felony charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Daniel Paul Gray, 43, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 restitution. Gray had pleaded guilty on Oct. 25, 2023, to felony charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

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According to court documents, Gray was very active on social media about his distrust of the 2020 presidential election results. This included messages to prevent President Joe Biden from becoming president.

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The following is a timeline the DOJ released related to Gray’s activities:

  • Dec. 12, 2020 - Gray posted to Facebook a screenshot of the Wikipedia page for the Insurrection Act of 1807. The screenshot was captioned, “[expletive] about to get lit y’all. I’m actually really excited at the possibility of the insurrection act being implemented.”

  • Jan. 6, 2021 - Gray attended a rally at the Ellipse. He made his way to a restricted area of the Capitol building as early as 2:25 p.m. Grey was present when the police line fell on the west side of the building and at 2:41 p.m. entered the Capitol.

  • Once inside, Gray was at the front of the mob when he approached an officer at the front of the defensive line. Gray shoved the officer after being told to back up several times.

  • At 3:01 p.m., body-worn camera footage shows Gray and other rioters pushing the police line to the edge of a marble staircase. He shoved an officer, knocking the officer off balance. The officer fell down the staircase and suffered a concussion and chronic back pain.

Gray continued to push against officers, and eventually broke through the police line.
Gray continued to push against officers, and eventually broke through the police line.

  • Gray posted a four-minute Instagram video boasting about his actions during the Jan. 6 events. We said, “We start pushing the police out the back of the Capitol; we pushed them from the front to the back of the Capitol... pushing them [the police] down the staircase.” Later, Gray wrote ““Dude we literally took Congress over. I don’t wanna say too much more lol was the rowdiest thing I’ve ever done and you know me lol.” In social media messages Gray sent after Jan. 6, he further boasted, “Lol I was one of the first in the capital.”

The Department of Justice said Gray was arrested by the FBI on May 18, 2021, in Jacksonville.

RELATED: St. Augustine man pleads guilty to felony charges for January 6 involvement

The DOJ said that over 1,300 people have been charged for their crimes relating to the Jan. 6 breach.

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“In the 37 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony,” the Department of Justice said in a release. “The investigation remains ongoing.”

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

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