A former employee of the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office was convicted Tuesday on charges related to his participation in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Joseph Irwin of Cecilia was found guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of three felony charges, including Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon, and three misdemeanor charges, including Entering and Remaining on the Floor of Congress.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, court documents state that Irwin and co-defendant John Joseph Richter of Port Charlotte, Florida, discussed plans to travel to Washington with the intent to obstruct the certification of the electoral college vote. The two discussed the potential for violence and possible supplies to bring, with both bringing wooden poles with all-black American flags.
The two men attended the January 6th “Stop the Steal” rally and joined the march to the Capitol, and then joined efforts to breach the building. Irwin broke his pole into two pieces when he “aggressively smashed his pole on the ground in a threatening manner at the police officers.” After breaching the building and eventually making it to the senate floor, the two had fellow rioters take their pictures at senators’ desks while posing with their poles. The two left the Capitol after Metropolitan Police officers eventually directed the rioters out. The release says the two continued to celebrate their participation in the riot, with Irwin keeping his wooden pole in a shadow box.
Irwin was arrested on August 17, 2021. According to the criminal complaint from his arrest, Irwin was identified through an anonymous tip after he was seen in video recorded at the Capitol. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward identified Irwin and confirmed in the complaint that he was a former employee, having left the sheriff’s office in May of 2016.
Sentencing for Irwin is scheduled for August 9. More than 1,400 people have been charged for their participation in the January 6th attack, and the FBI continues to collect tips on other participants.
