MO man bragged in bar about being involved in Capitol riot, witness testifies at trial
Moriah Coleman was at Big C’s Martini Shack in Blue Springs, having a drink with her niece, when she overheard two men talking about being at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“That’s so cool,” she said to one of the men, hoping to get him to tell her more.
He did. He told her his name, John Todd, and that he traveled to Washington because his boss paid for it. He showed her photos and video, proving he’d been there that day.
Coleman went home and reported it to the FBI.
On Tuesday, 21 months after prosecutors first brought charges against John George Todd III for his actions on Jan. 6, Coleman was the first witness in his federal trial.
Todd, of Blue Springs, faces six counts in connection with the Capitol breach. Two of those counts are felonies, including injuring an officer with a tent pole. Prosecutors say the incidents were captured on video.
The trial, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, began Monday with jury selection and is expected to last several days.
Barry Disney, the government prosecutor, opened his argument with an apology to the jury for the language they were about to hear before quoting what Todd said to police officers defending the Capitol on Jan. 6. Disney then listed several of the profanity-laced tirades Todd hurled at police officers, captured in videos taken at the Capitol that day.
Disney laid out the argument prosecutors are making against Todd: that he knowingly traveled to Washington to block the certification of the election; that he caused bodily harm to a police officer when a flag pole Todd was carrying broke during a scuffle with police, slicing the officer’s hand; and that he entered the restricted Capitol building and was disruptive once inside.
“He stands out because of his aggressiveness, his hostility and his actions,” Disney said.
Roger Roots, an attorney representing Todd, argued his client simply came to Washington with his boss to hear what he thought would be Trump’s last speech. Roots called Missouri the “hinterlands” where people support Trump.
“D.C. is a sophisticated town. They analyze politics,” Roots said. “Mr. Todd came to DC not knowing much about what happened.”
Roots argued that Todd didn’t realize that he was entering restricted areas on Jan. 6 and that he didn’t realize he was disrupting the certification of the election. Todd was just following Trump’s instructions, Roots said, to show “pride” in the “brave” Republicans objecting to the certification.
Roots asked the jury, composed of people from a city that voted by more than 86 percentage points for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, to put political views aside.
“Give Mr. Todd every single ounce of your consideration,” Roots said. “Examine the evidence. Slow it down, and you will conclude that Mr. Todd is not guilty of the charges.”
Todd, 34, was originally charged May 3, 2022, with four misdemeanors. The government said he twice declined offers to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor. Instead, he opted to take his case to trial, then requested multiple continuances.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell had warned Todd that delaying his case would give prosecutors time to keep investigating and possibly come up with more charges against him. And in preparing for the trial, the government said it uncovered additional video that showed Todd assaulting officers.
On Dec. 6, a federal grand jury indicted Todd on a felony charge — inflicting bodily injury on an officer — in addition to the four misdemeanor counts. Todd asked to testify before the grand jury and did so before its deliberations, an unusual move.
The grand jury then returned a second indictment on Jan. 17, adding a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. Now, he faces more than 40 years in prison.
Todd’s defense has argued that the government filed the felony charges “vindictively, to punish and retaliate against Todd and his attorneys for refusing to plead guilty.”
During a pre-trial hearing Friday, Howell denied a late motion to dismiss the obstruction charge. She also appeared skeptical of several of Todd’s arguments and has denied the defense’s attempts to argue that he was protected by the First Amendment when he entered the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The government alleges that Todd breached the Capitol through the Upper West Terrace at 2:44 p.m., carrying a fiberglass tent pole with an American flag attached to it. He went in and out of the Rotunda twice, the second time repeatedly pushing against Capitol Police officers while being ordered to leave.
“In body worn camera footage obtained from the Metropolitan Police Department, the Defendant was recorded yelling at law enforcement officers,” the government said in a court filing. “At one point inside the Rotunda, while near a law enforcement officer, the Defendant yelled, “I swear to God, I’ll hip toss your ass into the f---in’ crowd, mother f-----!””
Capitol Police Officer Noah Rathbun, one of those trying to clear the area, believed Todd was about to hit someone with the tent pole, the government said, and tried to take it from him. While the two wrestled over the pole, it splintered and caused a deep cut in the officer’s knuckle that required medical attention.
Todd’s defense argued in a Nov. 30 motion that Rathbun wasn’t badly injured and referred to the wound as a “tiny cut.”
Todd had been free on a personal recognizance bond after his arrest, but in April 2023 he was caught scaling a building while in possession of knives and razor blades. Prosecutors said he was trying “to gain access to a person” with whom he was upset.
Prosecutors said his bond should be revoked and he should be sent to jail. They said he also had previously violated his conditions of release by possessing a firearm while experiencing acute mental health concerns.
Todd’s attorneys responded that he was an Afghanistan veteran who was dealing with combat-related PTSD. Instead of sending Todd to jail, a federal magistrate judge granted his request to move to South Carolina to live with his sister and her husband until his trial.
