MO man testifies in his Capitol riot trial, says he didn’t know he wasn’t allowed in

Kansas City-area resident John George Todd III took the stand in his federal trial on Friday, adamant that he had no idea he was not permitted inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Todd said he didn’t know Vice President Mike Pence would be in the Capitol, despite former President Donald Trump mentioning Pence in a speech that Todd wanted to attend so badly that he traveled by car from Missouri to Washington and, once there, climbed a tree to get a better view.

He claimed police officers opened an emergency exit to let the crowd into the building and that a police officer told him he could watch the proceeding as long as he was peaceful — despite the fact that the Capitol had been closed to the public for months because of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They let us in the building and then at some point we were getting attacked,” Todd said.

Todd, 34, of Blue Springs, faces six charges in connection with the Capitol breach, including two felonies. If convicted on all counts, he could get more than 40 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Todd traveled to Washington to block the certification of the Electoral College votes; that he caused bodily harm to a police officer when a tent pole he was carrying broke during a scuffle with police, slicing the officer’s hand; and that he entered the restricted Capitol building and was disruptive once inside.

The trial, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, began on Monday. The case is expected to go to the jury this coming Monday morning.

His comments came during hours of testimony, where Todd said he gets irritated and angry when being touched in large crowds. He said he resisted the officers trying to remove him from the building because he was trying to help people being pushed by those officers — particularly older women.

After Todd said he “absolutely” takes responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutor Barry Disney asked whether he was guilty of being in the Capitol and of parading or demonstrating.

Todd said he was, according to the way Disney had phrased it. For each of the six charges the government brought against Todd, Disney tried to get an admission of guilt. He admitted to being in the Capitol after being told to leave. He admitted to knowing that Congress was in session to certify the votes of the Electoral College.

When it came to a scuffle over a flagpole Todd had purchased and brought into the Capitol, Todd was adamant he did nothing to break the pole.

“I was just not letting go,” Todd said, who said at one point that he bought a flag and wasn’t going to go home without one. He picked up a new flag off the floor after his was broken by the officer.

Todd’s attorneys, led by John Pierce, spent the day trying to prove that Todd had no idea he wasn’t supposed to be in the Capitol that day and, because of his lack of intent, is innocent from the charges that he had disrupted the certification of the election and was in a restricted space.

After the prosecution rested its case Friday morning — after using police officers and experts on Senate procedure to establish the evidence against Todd — the defense called on David Sumrall, a “citizen journalist” who runs Stop Hate, a group that calls the Jan. 6 defendants “political hostages.”

Sumrall said it would have been difficult for the crowd to know the Capitol was closed, because of the large mass of people who had descended on the building under the impression that it was part of a series of rallies Trump supporters were holding in Washington that day.

“I can say that those people didn’t know they were doing anything wrong,” he said. “They were just festive.”

Todd then took the stand, testifying that he was a U.S. Marine who received an other-than-honorable discharge over problems stemming from alcohol abuse. He said he has post-traumatic stress disorder, doesn’t like being touched because he had been abused by his stepdad as a child and believed his mental health issues affected him on Jan. 6.

Todd said he used to listen to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ podcast while working his construction job and had a lot of questions about the 2020 presidential election. But he said he didn’t intend to go to the Capitol to disrupt the certification.

“I just wanted to be able to see him (Trump) for the first time,” Todd said.

He said he didn’t see any signs or fences preventing him from going to the Capitol. He wondered why police were standing away from him at one point if he wasn’t supposed to be there.

Todd entered the Capitol through an emergency exit.

“I planned on shutting my mouth and sitting down and watching them,” he said.

Disney did not challenge Todd’s account of being let into the building by police. Instead, he focused on what Todd did once inside the building. He asked if Todd’s interaction with officers in the building, where he yelled, “I swear to God, I’ll hip toss your ass into the f---in’ crowd, mother f-----!”” was peaceful.

Todd said he had other peaceful interactions with police officers and that he felt the melee in the Capitol wasn’t different from other protests.

He said he remained in the Capitol in part because of his military experience. He said he wanted to help people harmed by the police, adding that “one thing the Marines taught me is you just don’t retreat.”

He also said his experience in the military led him to say the officer should drop his gear and fight.

“I just wanted to be not pushed, not pulled and not assaulted,” Todd said.

Testimony began Tuesday with a witness who said she overheard two men at Big C’s Martini Shack in Blue Springs talking about being at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She started up a conversation with one of them, she said, hoping to get him to tell her more.

He told her his name was John Todd, the witness said, and that he had traveled to Washington because his boss paid for it. He showed her photos and video, proving he’d been there that day. And he told her he’d wanted to “wreak havoc” on the Capitol, she said, before his friend signaled to him to stop talking.

She went home and reported it to the FBI.

Todd was originally charged May 3, 2022, with four misdemeanors: entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

The government said he twice declined offers to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor. Instead, he opted to take his case to trial, then requested multiple continuances.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, had warned Todd that delaying his case would give prosecutors time to keep investigating and possibly come up with more charges against him. And in preparing for the trial, the government said it uncovered additional video that showed Todd assaulting officers.

On Dec. 6, a federal grand jury indicted Todd on a felony charge — inflicting bodily injury on an officer — in addition to the four misdemeanor counts. Todd asked to testify before the grand jury and did so before its deliberations, an unusual move.

The grand jury then returned a second indictment on Jan. 17, adding a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Todd’s defense argued that the government filed the felony charges “vindictively, to punish and retaliate against Todd and his attorneys for refusing to plead guilty.”

Todd had been free on a personal recognizance bond after his arrest, but in April 2023 he was caught scaling a building while in possession of knives and razor blades. Prosecutors said he was trying “to gain access to a person” with whom he was upset.

Prosecutors said his bond should be revoked and he should be sent to jail. In a response, defense attorney Pierce said Todd was dealing with combat-related PTSD and his sister wrote that he had developed PTSD as a result of seeing friends blown up in front of him in Afghanistan and witnessing their deaths.

Instead of sending Todd to jail, a federal magistrate judge granted his request to move to South Carolina to live with his sister and her husband until his trial.