WASHINGTON — A former leader in a California Republican group pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Jorge Aaron Riley, 45, of Sacramento, appeared before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta to enter his guilty plea to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss other misdemeanor counts against him.
Riley was serving as the corresponding secretary at the California Republican Assembly and Sacramento chapter president of the activist group when he entered the capitol with other supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6. Riley resigned his positions with the group following his arrest in mid-January 2021, but was honored by them months later for nearly a decade he spent on the Sacramento chapter’s executive board.
According to charging documents, Riley was captured on video at the Capitol describing how rioters had breached the building.
“We broke windows, we went into the door, we pushed our way in and then we just kept going further and further,” Riley can be heard saying. “We pushed our way to Nancy Pelosi’s office… and then we were sitting in there yelling, ‘F*** you Nancy Pelosi.”
Riley also described a confrontation with police inside the building, saying there was a “hella long power struggle” between officers and rioters.
“It was a mostly peaceful, physical takeover of the Capitol,” he said in the video. “We stopped the steal, because they were in there and they weren’t going to stop the steal, so we stopped the steal. We took our country back. F*** you guys.”
Riley also posted a number of times on Facebook, including one post on Jan. 6 reading, “Hey we’re storming the Capitol… what are you doing?” and another on Jan. 8 appearing to suggest authorities should try to come to his house to kill or arrest him.
“You will all die,” Riley added a short time later.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. Pending a decision by Mehta on sentencing enhancements, Riley could face a recommended guideline range of 41-51 months in prison.
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