WASHINGTON — A Texas husband and wife who once argued the Department of Justice should drop their case if former President Donald Trump was not also prosecuted were convicted Tuesday of assaulting police during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Mark and Jalise Middleton, of Forestburg, were convicted by a jury on multiple felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting or impeding police. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for June 12.
In charging documents, investigators said body worn camera footage from the riot showed Mark Middleton yelling obscenities at police and struggling with them as he pushed against a barricade while his wife Jalise “repeatedly grabs and strikes” an officer with her hand. In a video posted publicly to his Facebook account, investigators say Mark Middleton bragged that he and his wife were on the front lines and helped push down police barriers.
“Jalise and I got pepper sprayed, clubbed and tear gassed,” Mark Middleton wrote. “We had to retreat, but more patriots pushed forward, and they’re taking back our house.”
The Middletons began a jury trial last week on four felony and five misdemeanor counts each. After more than two days of deliberation, jurors convicted both Middletons on all counts Tuesday.
Last June, the Middletons argued they were being selectively prosecuted and asked a federal judge to throw out the case against them, or at least delay their trial, unless or until Trump also faced charges in connection with Jan. 6. The judge presiding over their case denied that request. Trump ultimately was indicted in August on four felony counts alleging he defrauded the United States in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Prosecutors could seek years in prison for each Middleton at sentencing in June. Other defendants convicted on similar charges have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from two-and-a-half to 10 years in prison. In May 2022, Matthew Ryan Miller, of Maryland, was sentenced to 33 months, or roughly 2.75 years, in prison. Miller accepted a plea deal to two felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting police.
In the 37 months since the Capitol riot, more than 1,300 defendants have been charged with crimes ranging from entering a restricted area to seditious conspiracy. Approximately 900 defendants have now pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.