Prosecution rests in Jan. 6th case against central Texas man

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday evening in the trial of Christopher Ray Grider. Grider will be asked to decide on Wednesday morning whether he will testify in the case.

This case is not being handled by a jury, but instead, the federal judge overseeing the case will ultimately come up with a verdict.

Grider is charged in the superseding indictment with an additional felony - civil disorder - which carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison. Count 2 charges him with obstruction of an official proceeding; Count 3 with destruction of government property; Count 4 with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; and Count 5 with disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Count 6 charges Grider with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; Count 7 with disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; Count 8 with act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and Count 9 with parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Grider pleaded guilty to counts 4 and 9 just before the trial started on Monday.

Grider can be seen on several Capitol surveillance cameras walking through hallways before he and others made their way to the Speaker’s Lobby just outside the House Chamber. Lawmakers, who were meeting to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, were forced to evacuate the building with their staffs and others.

Grider wore a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and a “Make America Great Again” cap. He is seen on video handing a hard hat to another man, who used it to break glass in the doorway after the other man had been punching the glass with his fist.

Seconds later, a Capitol police lieutenant shot and killed Ashli Babbitt, who tried to climb through the doorway just a few yards from where Grider was standing.

Grider’s defense attorney asked the judge to acquit Grider on Tuesday evening, he told the judge that the DOJ did not present any direct evidence of Grider being violent on January 6th, 2021.

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