Whitehall man who wore painting business jacket to Capitol Jan. 6 gets 5 months in prison
A Whitehall man who wore a jacket advertising his painting business while participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is facing five months behind bars, and he must pay more than $10,000 for the window he broke.
Troy Elbert Faulkner, 41, previously pleaded guilty over the summer to one count of destruction of government property for breaking an exterior window on the Capitol building. In exchange, federal prosecutors dropped other charges.
Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued Faulkner his sentence of five months in prison and three years of post-release supervision — as requested by federal prosecutors — on Friday morning.
Howell also ordered Faulkner to pay $10,560 in restitution for the damage he did to the Capitol building.
U.S. attorneys wrote in court documents that Faulkner and another person traveled from Ohio to D.C. to protest what Faulkner called a “rigged election.” Faulkner told the FBI that in response to former President Donald Trump asking people at a rally in D.C. to go to the Capitol, he followed a crowd that walked to the building.
Faulkner wore a plastic chest plate, similar to those used in BMX biking, for protection, according to U.S. attorneys.
More:Reynoldsburg man who stole items from Capitol on Jan. 6 sentenced to 40 days in prison
Faulkner wore a jacket with his name and number; bragged online
He also wore a jacket with his paint company, Faulkner Painting, and phone number emblazoned on it during the Capitol insurrection, according to court documents and photos from the scene. Faulkner admitted to burning the jacket upon his return to Ohio.
John L. Machado, Faulkner’s attorney, noted in court documents that unknown callers have harassed Faulkner by phone after getting his number from pictures of him in his jacket on Jan. 6 online.
Machado said Faulkner, who turned himself in about a week later, did not intend to participate in the violence and was immediately remorseful. That he wore the jacket to the protest is proof he did not have a premeditated plan, Machado said.
According to U.S. attorneys, Faulkner bragged about his actions online a few days after Jan. 6 when he told another person in a Facebook post: “We took it to there (sic) front door unlike the (Black Lives Matter).”
Faulkner kicked in window but didn't enter Capitol
Machado said Faulkner did not attend the protest intending to participate in violence or break into the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the official electoral count.
“However, while he was protesting, Mr. Faulkner was hit by a rubber bullet by one of the police officers. This fact that he had been hit by a rubber bullet and by (tear gas) angered Mr. Faulkner,” Machado said. “His anger got the most of him on that day.”
Faulkner jumped onto a window ledge, turned around and kicked in multiple panes of an external window on the Capitol, shattering them, according to court documents.
Faulkner did not enter the Capitol building and nobody entered the building through the window he damaged, according to court documents.
Photos of Faulkner on Jan. 6 and a video of Faulkner kicking in the window emerged on social media in the days after the riot.
On Faulkner's Facebook page, according to a screenshot from court documents, one friend commented on a photo of him at the riot in his personalized jacket: "Jeez, man, You wore your company jacket into the middle of the insurrection?”
On Jan. 13, 2021, having heard the FBI was looking for him, Faulkner called the FBI National Threat Operations Center hotline and turned himself in. In the early hours of Jan. 29, 2021, a SWAT team arrested Faulkner at his home.
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio man who wore company jacket at Jan. 6 riot sentenced to prison
