Judge Finds Jan. 6 Defendant Not Guilty

Reuters Twitter

A judge has acquitted a man who admitted to entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th after successfully arguing police let him through. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden found New Mexico engineer Matthew Martin not guilty following a two-day bench trial.

Martin was arrested last year and was charged with entering and staying in an off-limits building, as well as disorderly and disruptive conduct.

The Washington Examiner reports:

Martin claimed during the trial that he had entered the building because he had believed that had permission from police, who allowed him to enter, according to Buzzfeed News.

Though prosecutors tried to argue Martin should have known better as he walked past “ARE CLOSED” signs and proceeded to record and encounter the chaos taking place, McFadden said during his decision that Martin’s “plausible” belief outweighed the arguments, according to the outlet.

Based on video footage McFadden had viewed, he said he wasn’t positive that Martin had been waved into the building by an officer. McFadden said his understanding of the footage was that Martin had waited to be allowed to enter the building while the office spoke with another person, and he entered the building after he tapped the officer causing him to lean back, according to the outlet.

Martin said during the trial that if he had to repeat that day over, he would stay away from the Capitol.

Martin’s acquittal marks the first Jan. 6th defendant to be found not guilty as Democrats continue to push for harsh sentences for those who unlawfully entered the Capitol building.

In March a federal grand jury found Guy Reffitt guilty on multiple counts. Judge McFadden also found “Cowboys for Trump” co-founder guilty on March 17, marking the second conviction in Jan. 6 cases.



  1. January 6, 2021 was the biggest persecution of US citizens in US history. The authoritarian state is now in power.

  2. Time to put Pelosi on trial for calling off National Guard and allowing the Capital Police to let everyone in. This is a false narrative driven by politics which has tried unsucessfully to frame President Trump over and over again

    1. Dont forget FBI encouraging people to go in! Pelosi was arrested that day She is long gone thank God They found her Laptop with very incriminating evidence of colluding with teh CCP who instructed her on what to do!

  3. Isn’t it kind of obvious that a building that has tour guides is not an off limits building?????? I mean come on people everyone knows Demo RATS have crap for brains but this allegation is ridiculous!!!

  4. We need to arrest every sitting Senator that voted to conduct this kangaroo court – the true criminals are the ones sitting in congress

  5. Funny how Antifa and BLM can trash Cities, burn down Businesses, destroy motor cars, terrorize Citizens, even in Seattle kill a teenager, but a man who came to the Capital to protest peacefully that the Election was stolen, is put in jail???? No lawyer, no fair hearing, nothing for most of them, Thank God this Judge is being fair

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