WASHINGTON — A Washington state man who marched with the Proud Boys on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Monday to illegally entering the U.S. Capitol Building.
Jeffrey Grace, 64, was arrested alongside his son Jeremy in February 2021 on four misdemeanor counts each. Jeremy pleaded guilty last April to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building and was sentenced to 21 days in jail and a year of supervised release. On Tuesday, Grace appeared before U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss to plead guilty to the same charge.
According to charging documents, Grace entered the Capitol through a door on the north side of the building and can be seen in photographs behind another rioter who was carrying a lectern through the Rotunda. Grace later exited the building through a broken window.
Grace initially told the FBI he was not a member of “any group that advocated violence” but that he knew people who were members of the Proud Boys, Three Percenters militia movement and 1% Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. In an August 2021 filing, prosecutors said that turned out not to be true.
On Jan. 6, prosecutors said, Grace was an “active member” of the Proud Boys and joined other members as they marched to the Capitol. Grace’s name was mentioned briefly during the ongoing seditious trial of five Proud Boys leaders because he traveled to D.C. with Travis Nugent, another Proud Boy who was called as a witness for the defense.
Prosecutors also highlighted Grace’s participation in what they described as “pre-planned confrontations” in Portland, Oregon, and El Paso, Texas, following the Capitol riot. In early August 2021, while on pretrial release in his Jan. 6 case, Grace was filmed carrying a firearm and a baton and shoving a counter-protester after traveling to Portland to provide "perimeter security” for musician and pastor Sean Feucht.
A month earlier, according to prosecutors, Grace traveled with a group from Washington to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he went out at night “in an effort to record individuals he suspected of illegally crossing into Texas.” Prosecutors said Grace was also armed on that occasion when he was confronted by police, although he was not arrested or charged with a crime in connection with either incident.
Prosecutors asked Moss to restrict Grace from possessing guns while on pretrial release, saying he had “twice brought a firearm to pre-panned confrontations with others and vowed to continue doing so.” Moss granted that request on Aug. 12, 2021, saying he found the condition was necessary to protect community safety.
On Tuesday, Moss accepted Grace’s plea of guilty to one misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Grace was ordered to appear before Moss in person for a sentencing hearing on Aug. 3.
We're tracking all of the arrests, charges and investigations into the January 6 assault on the Capitol. Sign up for our Capitol Breach Newsletter here so that you never miss an update.