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In the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, a South Carolina man engaged in violent altercations with several police officers and a government employee. The man was identified as George Amos Tenney III and he has admitted to two felonies.
On Thursday, George Amos Tenney III admitted that he entered the Capitol building even though he knew that he wasn't supposed to be there. The owner of "The PowerHouse Patriot" Facebook page added that he had several physical encounters with police officers who were trying to disperse the gathering.
Tenney was seen inciting rioters to enter the building by holding the doors open.
On Thursday, the defendant entered a guilty plea to two felonies of civil disorder, impeding an official action. The maximum term for the obstruction accusation is 20 years in jail, and the maximum sentence for the civil disorder charge is 5 years.
Tenney stated that he had made preparations to come to Washington, D.C. The 35-year-old made plans to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. This was during a plea deal hearing before Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, a Ronald Reagan appointee.
In a Facebook message from December 28, 2020, Tenney said:
"It's starting to look like we may siege the capitol building and congress if the electoral votes don't go right. There's a bunch going around, figured we should talk bout it. The people I'm going, we are forming plans for every scenario. What do you think?"
In another message, Tenney referred to Mike Pence, who Trump incorrectly claimed had the power to prevent the the certification of the Electoral College vote. The message from December 29, 2020, read:
"Pence is a traitor and will betray the US on the 6th"
What happened on Jan 6 that led to Capitol building riot?
Tenney flew from South Carolina to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump's alleged "Stop the Steal" event, according to the Statement of Offense. It outlined the conduct Tenney acknowledged to have taken that day.
When he arrived, he ran into Darrell Youngers, who would eventually serve as his co-defendant, and the two of them proceeded to the Capitol.
Youngers described the scene as:
"People have just stormed the front of the Capitol building, through tear gas. People aren't supposed to be up there, but they are there."
Immediately following the initial breach, at 2:19 pm, the two entered the Capitol building. Tenney attempted to force the Rotunda doors open from within after spotting rioters battling police outside. As he tried to open one of the doors, the South Carolina native made contact with several federal employees.
Tenney eventually succeeded in unlocking one of the doors, rebuffing an attempt to close it from the outside. A member of the House Sergeant at Arms attempted to close the door and push Tenney aside at that point.
The Statement of Offense about this said:
"Tenney ran back to the door and grabbed the employee by the shoulder. Tenney and other rioters surrounded the employee, and a heated conversation began."
Shortly after, a rioter barged through the doors from outside, pushing the House Sergeant at Arms from the doors. However, Tenney lingered on in the entrance area.
Tenney was then briefly ejected from East Foyer when they "locked arms" with a Capitol Police officer who was standing immediately outside the doors. Later, while attempting to block the crowd from entering the building, the officer was shoved to the ground by a rioter while standing in an open doorway.
After a brief absence, Tenney came back and stood by an open door. He assisted the rioters into the structure by patting them on the back and directing them towards the Rotunda, according to the Statement of Offense.
Tenney has agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution as part of his plea agreement in addition to the estimated $2.7 million in Capitol damage.
The plea deal also calls for a maximum sentence of 51 months in prison for Tenney. This is reportedly based on a number of factors, including the seriousness of his crimes, his acceptance of responsibility and a lack of a criminal past.
