North Kingstown man who clashed with police in Jan. 6 attack pleads guilty to felony

Mark Reynolds, The Providence Journal
·2 min read
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A 47-year-old North Kingstown man who participated in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, pleaded guity Friday to a felony charge of interfering with police officers during a civil disorder, according to federal prosecutors.

Bernard Joseph Sirr participated in the siege that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to count electoral votes from the 2020 election of President Joe Biden.

Sirr was involved in a widely covered confrontation between police officers and rioters in a tunnel that serves as a narrow point of entry on the Lower West Terrace.

He wore a tan and black baseball cap with a snake on it, a blue neck gaiter, glasses and a coat.

Documents filed in federal court say that video taken at about 3:08 p.m. on Jan. 6 shows Sirr entering the tunnel.

In video taken inside the tunnel, Sirr is at the front of the police line, pushing against rioters who are assaulting officers, officials say.

Bernard Sirr
Bernard Sirr

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He is also seen pushing directly against the police line, with his hand pressed against a police shield, according to prosecutors.

He also participated in a struggle in which a group of rioters chanted “Heave! Ho!” in unison as they moved as a team against officers, court records say.

Bernard Sirr, circled at right, is seen in a screen grab from video taken inside a tunnel at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
Bernard Sirr, circled at right, is seen in a screen grab from video taken inside a tunnel at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.

Sirr was the second Rhode Islander arrested in the Capitol breach. A third man, William B. Cotton, 53, of Hopkinton, was arrested last month after being identified from closed-circuit television and video footage taken inside the Capitol during the breach. He was charged with entering and 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, according to federal officials.

Sirr's plea on Friday, before Judge Judge Trevor N. McFadden in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, followed a recent plea agreement with prosecutors.

Sirr had been accused of misdemeanor offenses in addition to the the civil disorder charge back in June. Prosecutors did not mention those in their news release.

Bernard Sirr leaves federal court in Providence last June after being arrested on suspicion of participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bernard Sirr leaves federal court in Providence last June after being arrested on suspicion of participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

His sentencing is scheduled for May 12.

The court's document filing system did not reflect any changes in Sirr's bond.

At the time of his arrest in June, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan ordered Sirr's supervised release on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

At that time, Sirr remained a state employee, working at the University of Rhode Island’s Bay Campus in Narragansett as a nuclear facilities engineer for the R.I. Atomic Energy Commission. The commission runs Rhode Island’s only nuclear reactor.

Sirr was put on administrative leave from the $82,009-per-year job.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Jan. 6 guilty plea: RI man admits clashing with police at Capitol