Jan. 6 Capitol riot: A year later, here's where charges against 22 people with Tennessee ties stand
As the world watched the events of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol unfold, eagle-eyed observers spotted a tiny Tennessee-shaped patch on one of the rioter's jackets.
The man, later identified as a then-30-year-old Eric Munchel, was photographed carrying zip-tie restraints as he climbed over chairs in the Senate gallery. He quickly earned the nickname "zip-tie guy" on social media as people worked to identify him and provide tips to the FBI.
The image of Munchel, among others, became emblematic of that deadly day that stunned and horrified many around the nation and globe.
A year later, more than 700 people from 45 states have been charged with federal crimes in connection to the events.
At least 22 of them have clear ties to Tennessee. Most of them are from Middle Tennessee.
All but one of the defendants linked to the Volunteer State are men.
They range in age from 20-year-old Kentucky man Nicholas Brockhoff, arrested in Counce near the Mississippi border, to Clifford Meteer, 66, of Knoxville.
Like a lot of the defendants nationwide, most were arrested after tipsters reached out to the FBI, recognizing their friends and neighbors from images from the day. And in most cases, they'd left a trail of social media posts leading investigators right to them.
Broadly, prosecutors have filed charges in three different categories — those who planned ahead for possible or purposeful violence, those accused of violence against police officers and those who may have just been caught up in the energy of the day and moved with the crowd into the chaos.
Tennesseans are named in all three.
Tennesseans in violent attacks on officers
Ronald Colton McAbee
McAbee, then 27, is among seven charged in a brutal assault on officers on the Capitol's lower west terrace. A now-former Williamson County Sheriff's deputy, McAbee attended the rally while on temporary disability leave from work.
At the Capitol, footage released in court proceedings show he wore a tactical vest with the word sheriff.
McAbee is shown on police body-camera footage carrying a baton and swinging at officers while wearing gloves with reinforced metal knuckles, charging documents say. He was also allegedly involved in grabbing and holding down an officer while other rioters kicked and punched him.
McAbee was arrested in August, after a tipster turned him in. He has remained in custody ever since.
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Joseph Lino Padilla
Padilla, then 40, of Cleveland, Tennessee, is accused of fighting officers at a barricade outside the Capitol and later threw a flag pole toward a group of law enforcement huddled in a doorway, according to federal court records.
Padilla was arrested in Georgia. He was served a superseding indictment in November, and a status hearing in the case is set for Jan. 26.
Albuquerque Cosper Head
Head, of Kingsport, was arrested April 14 in Johnson City.
Head was charged in connection with two other men, Iowan Kyle Young, 37, and Thomas Sibick, 35, of Buffalo, New York.
Prosecutors say Young was among the mob supporting Trump who dragged Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone into a crowd during the attack, shocked him with a stun gun and stole his badge, radio and ammunition. Young is accused of trying to take Fanone's service weapon.
Head faces several charges including assaulting, resisting or impeding officers and use of a deadly or dangerous weapon. He also was served a superseding indictment on more severe charges in December. Head remains in custody as the court process continues.
Cleveland Grover Meredith
Meredith, then 53, from Atlanta, was a University of the South graduate. He pleaded guilty to a federal charge after an FBI investigation found he threatened to kill Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after the riots.
Officers found a Glock 19, a 9mm pistol, a Tavor X95 rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his truck and trailer, court documents show.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of interstate threats in September. He was sentenced to 28 months in prison, with credit for time served, to be followed by 36 months of supervised probation. He was also ordered to pay $100.
Joshua John Portlock
Portlock, of Smyrna, faces charges on allegations he pushed and moved barriers, assaulted officers and joined a mob yelling "heave-ho" as they pushed into a tunnel on the Capitol's lower west terrace, according to charging documents.
He was arrested in and released in November. His preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 13.
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Nicholas Brockhoff
Brockhoff, the youngest of those with Tennessee connections charged, is also accused of an assault on officers.
Charging documents state he sprayed officers attempting to control the crowd at the lower west terrace with a fire extinguisher.
Brockhoff, 20 at the time of the riots, was arrested in May and indicted in August. He has remained in custody since his arrest. A status hearing in his case is scheduled for Jan. 25.
Tennesseans charged after being inside the Capitol
Eric Munchel and Lisa Eisenhart
The so-called "Zip-tie guy" was identified as Nashville bartender Munchel, then 30, who went to D.C. with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart, 56 at the time, of Woodstock, Georgia.
Munchel was arrested on Jan 10, 2021, in Nashville.
He was released to house arrest. Since September, he has been ordered to spend house arrest at his brother's apartment in Nashville.
Eisenhart was released to house arrest in March, after legal wrangling over the jail conditions where she was held in D.C.
Federal agents recovered a sniper rifle and more than a dozen high-powered weapons from Munchel's home at the time of his arrest.
Investigators said the pair brought firearms with them to D.C. Video footage reviewed by the FBI indicated they may have stashed the weapons on the grounds of the Capitol before entering the building, investigators said.
Although the pair were originally seen as emblematic of the violent threats made that day, they've been charged more in line with others who seemed to rush in with the crowd.
They face mainly trespassing charges, although the list does include the charge of violent entry. The next hearing in the case is set for March, for both defendants.
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Matthew Bledsoe, Blake Reed, Eric Chase Torrens, Jack Jesse Griffith
Bledsoe, Reed, Torrens and Griffith were all spotted together inside the building, investigators said.
Bledsoe shot video of himself, wearing a U.S. flag gaiter, walking through the outer door of the Capitol and posted it on social media, the FBI states in an arrest complaint.
Torrens, then 28, appeared in an Instagram video with Bledsoe and Griffith, then 25, as they appear to enter the Capitol, according to court records.
A photograph provided by a tipster in the Bledsoe case showed him with another man in distinctive ski goggles and respirator, later identified as Reed. It is unclear how old Bledsoe was at the time.
On a guilty conviction for violent entry and disorderly conduct, Torrens was sentenced in October to 36 months probation on home detention and ordered to pay a $10.00 special assessment on top of a $500.00 restitution fine common in many of the Capitol riot cases.
Reed, then 35, is scheduled for a plea hearing Jan. 11.
The next hearing in Bledsoe's case is set for Jan. 21.
In October, Griffith was sentenced to 36 months probation and 90 days of home confinement. He was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution.
Matthew Baggott, Stewart Parks
Baggott, then 27, and Parks, then 28, were also charged together.
A status hearing hearing in their case is set for Jan. 18
The pair were reportedly spotted on security footage taken inside the Capitol.
Parks also allegedly picked up and walked out of the building with a hand-held metal detector wand from a table near an entrance, the complaint says.
Both were released under supervisory conditions, according to online court records.
Michael Timbrook
Timbrook, then 56, was spotted by a tipster. He was identified as a man wearing an orange beanie and black leather jacket seen in several photos and videos from inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
When interviewed by the FBI, he told them he was "ready to take the penalty for what he did on Jan. 6."
The next hearing in his case is set for Friday.
Ronnie B. Presley
Presley, then 42, of Bethpage, Tennessee, was arrested in Old Hickory on March 6.
Presley's charges include obstruction of justice, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct for his alleged actions during the riot.
Photos in court documents appear to show Presley standing at a door, holding on to the top of a riot shield.
The next hearing in his case is set for Monday.
Bryan Wayne Ivey
Ivey, then 28, was arrested on March 4 in Cookeville.
The Crossville man was caught on camera outside the Capitol as rioters broke windows, and inside after the building was breached, charging documents showed.
Ivey pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside Capitol grounds on June 22.
On top of possible prison time, a fine or probation, Ivey agreed to pay $500 in restitution to the United States. His sentencing has been reset for late February.
Clifford Meteer
The oldest of the Tennesseans charged so far, Knoxville's Meteer is expected to enter a plea on his charges next week.
Surveillance footage from inside the Capitol allegedly shows Meteer, 66 at the time, inside the building for approximately 30 minutes, carrying a homemade sign reading "Stop the Steal" and "Save the Republic."
He was released from custody in August, a week after his arrest in Knoxville.
Michael Lee Roche
Roche, then 26, of Murfreesboro, was among those spotted praying inside the Senate chambers, court documents show.
He was charged with seven misdemeanor counts related to his alleged entrance into the capitol building that day.
Roche is among those spotted with the "Q Anon Shaman," an Arizona man known for unique dress style and strident far right views.
A status hearing in Roche's case is set for Feb. 25.
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Ronald Sandlin
Tennessee man Sandlin, then 31, was arrested in Nevada.
He's charged with two others, who reportedly tried to raise money on GoFundMe ahead of their trip to D.C.
A man identified as Sandlin was caught in footage at the Capitol being cleared out of the building, allegedly fighting an officer away from a doorway.
Court records show the fight devolved into a shoving match involving about 20 people surrounding three offices.
He remains in custody.
Francis Connor
Connor, then 23, of New York, was arrested in Old Hickory in August. He's been charged in connection with a friend with whom he traveled from New York to D.C.
In one message released by the FBI in charging documents, Connor asked for someone to send a video of him jumping out of a window. A fellow defendant allegedly replied with a video showing Connor climbing out of a Senate Wing window, federal documents show.
Connor was arrested Aug. 31 and released Sept. 8. A status conference in his case is set for Jan. 21.
Natalie Neysa Alund, Adam Friedman, Rachel Wegner and USA Today reporting contributed to this report.
Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jan. 6 Capitol riot: Where charges against people with Tennessee ties stand
