A Special Forces veteran accused of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots — and in custody for more than three years — will reportedly have his day in court in May.
Jeffrey McKellop, 58 — a decorated Army vet who retired in 2010 after 20 years, including nine with Special Forces — was among 1,265 people charged in the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, the Fayetteville Observer first reported.
The Military Times reposted the report Thursday.
Facing multiple charges — including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon — McKellop has rejected eight lawyers over the years and been required to undergo a psychological evaluation after a 2023 court order that cited findings he was “mentally incompetent,” the outlet reported.
Court records showed McKellop was transferred to Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 28, 2023, to undergo a competency evaluation. The results weren’t available, the outlet reported, but an Aug. 21 order laid out a schedule for trial preparations.
The former soldier is accused of entering the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, with flagpoles, a helmet, tactical vest, protective eyewear and gas mask, and remaining in the area 90 minutes after police told the crowd to leave.
The government also alleges he tossed objects at officers three times before pressing toward the police line and scaffolding near the southwest area of the Capitol.
Once there, he allegedly tried to grab a can of riot-control spray from a lieutenant’s hand, threw a bottle at a line of officers, grabbed another officer, struck a sergeant and assaulted another officer by shoving her to the side, the outlet reported.
McKellop has pleaded not guilty to all counts, and a Dec. 11, 2023, trial date was rescheduled for May after he requested new legal representation.
He argues he was unarmed and didn’t intend on rioting when he and a friend went to Washington, D.C., for the rally held by then-President Donald Trump.
In a letter, Scott Steiert, the friend who traveled with McKellop, said the former soldier was concerned “anti-Trumpers” would attack him for his political views — and that he brought body armor as a defense against “any attack possibly from anti-Trumpers,” the outlet reported.
Federal prosecutors say the bulk of video evidence comes from body cameras worn by police or videos taken by members of the crowd — and refuted McKellop’s argument that law enforcement allowed defendants to enter the Capitol.
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