WASHINGTON – A Colorado Springs man who claimed to be the first person to break into the Senate Chambers before hitting a police officer with a wooden plank during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Friday to nearly three years in prison and a year of supervised release for his role in the events that day, officials with Department of Justice announced Friday.
Jacob Travis Clark, 34, of Colorado Springs, was found guilty of one felony and five misdemeanors following a Jan. 30, 2023, bench trial before Judge Friedrich in the District of Columbia.
Prosecutors said Clark drove from Colorado Springs to Washington, D.C. to attend former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse where the DOJ claims the suspect “anticipated violence,” as evidenced by texts he sent to his father that day, in which Clark reportedly wrote he was there “for the riots when they say he isn’t the winner lol.”
After the rally, prosecutors said, Clark walked to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol grounds and joined the thousands of other rioters who were forcing their way through the barricades, while texting his friends that the group was “gonna storm the capital (sic).”
At 2:14 p.m. that day, Clark was among the first to enter the U.S. Capitol building through the Senate Wing doors, DOJ officials said.
An indictment in the case showed Clark then went onto the second and third floors, got inside the Rotunda, and walked through multiple hallways as he texted his friends that the mob had “stormed it and busted the door down.”
The Colorado Springs man also claimed to be the first person to enter the Senate Chambers after the mob had stormed the Capitol.
“Clark was then observed walking down the hallway from the Senate Wing Door toward the Crypt holding a 2x4 wooden plank. Moments later, a U.S. Capitol Police Officer (USCP) was hit with the wooden 2x4 plank, which forced the officer to retreat into the Crypt in visible pain,” prosecutors said, adding Clark, who later joined a crowd of rioters, pointed at police and threatened them, which forced police to retreat as the mob made their way deeper into the building.
The suspect later confronted Capitol police who were trying to close and lock the Senate Galley doors and while he made no contact with police this time, he was part of the mob that "pushed and hit officers who were forced to retreat before one of the doors could be locked," prosecutors said.
Shortly before 4 p.m. that day and after spending nearly 40 minutes inside the building, Clark left the Capitol through the Senate Carriage door and, “continued to brag via text messages about his unlawful escapade, sending pictures and saying, ‘I helped break down the door,’ 'I was the first one in the chamber,’ ‘We took the whole thing. They had to evacuate,’” arresting documents showed. Clark would later text a friend that the mob would “do it everyday they try to vote.”
He was arrested on April 21, 2021, in Colorado Springs by the FBI.
In all, Clark was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony offense, and misdemeanor offenses of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
In the nearly three years since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 400 peopled charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony, DOJ officials said in a news release Friday. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Clark is among the nearly two dozen Coloradans who are either facing federal charges or who have been sentenced by the feds for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
- Todd Branden Casey of Denver was arrested on Aug. 30 in Georgetown, Colorado. He faces felony charges of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, plus multiple misdemeanor charges.
- Glen Wes Lee Croy, of Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol in August 2021. He was sentenced in November to 90 days of house arrest along with 14 days in a community correctional facility. He called himself an idiot.
- Tyler Earl Ethridge of Colorado Springs was arrested in July 2022 in Denver and faces six federal charges for his participation in the riot. He is a pastor who graduated from Charis Bible College in Woodland Park.
- Robert Gieswein of Woodland Park was arrested and faced multiple charges in January 2021 in connection to the Jan. 6 riot, including assault on an officer "with a spray canister, temporary barrier, and baseball bat," according to his arrest affidavit. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge in early March 2023. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
- Jonathan David Grace of Colorado Springs was arrested on March 30, 2023 on felony and misdemeanor charges. He pleaded guilty on Oct. 24, 2023 to assaulting a law enforcement officer. He is set for sentencing on Jan. 30, 2024.
- Logan Grover of Erie was charged in April 2021 with disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds, and demonstrating in a capitol building. He pleaded guilty in July 2022. He served in the Army Reserve for nearly 10 years and was deployed to Iraq, according to The Denver Post. He was sentenced to a month of house arrest and two years' probation in February 2023.
- Thomas Patrick Hamner of Peyton was arrested and charged in November 2021. Videos allegedly showed him fighting with Capitol and Metropolitan Police. In September 2022, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
- Lisa Ann Homer of Colorado Springs was arrested in November 2021 in Colorado Springs. She faces charges of illegally entering the capitol, disorderly and disruptive conduct on capitol grounds, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building. She was sentenced to three years' probation, 60 hours of community service, a $5,000 fine and $500 restitution.
- Jennifer Horvath of Colorado Springs was arrested and charged in May 2022 on multiple federal charges. She was located after FBI agents linked her to her boyfriend Glen Wes Lee Croy (listed above), who was also arrested, charged and sentenced for his involvement. She was sentenced in November 2022 to 36 months of probation, including 90 days of home confinement and 14 days at a residential facility, plus a $500 restitution.
- Klete Keller, an Olympian from Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding after storming the U.S. Capitol in September 2021. He faces 21 to 27 months in prison. His sentencing date has not yet been determined.
- Avery Carter MacCracken of San Miguel County was charged in December 2021 with assaulting officers in the Jan. 6 riot. He was arrested in Norwood on six federal charges. He was captured on videos and in photos fighting with U.S. Capitol Police officers. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing a law enforcement officer on Oct. 20, 2023.
- Patrick Montgomery of Douglas County was charged in January 2021 with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. According to an affidavit for his arrest, federal investigators were tipped off by someone who saw Montgomery in photos from inside the Capitol posted to Facebook. He pleaded not guilty.
- Daniel Michael Morrissey was charged in federal court in November 2021 for illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. He pleaded guilty to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and was sentenced to 45 days of incarceration and 26 months of probation in mid-August.
- Hunter Palm of Colorado Springs was arrested in May 2021 after he allegedly entered U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6. He was identified to federal investigators by a family member. He was arrested in May 2021 and indicted the following month. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
- Jeffrey Sabol of Jefferson County is accused of dragging a police officer down steps to be beaten by an American flag outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A federal judge denied him bail in April 2021. After the attack, prosecutors said he tried to fly to Switzerland.
- Timothy Williams of Trinidad was charged in June 2021 with multiple federal crimes. FBI agents found Williams on videos of the rioters inside the Capitol that day.
