A self-represented Jan. 6 rioter who used sovereign citizen arguments during his trial was found guilty and taken into government custody on Tuesday. Taylor James Johnatakis, from Washington state, was arrested in February 2021 and his trial began last week. After a few hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Johnatakis on Tuesday of felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting officers, and civil disorder, as well as four misdemeanor charges.
Judge Royce Lamberth became frustrated with Johnatakis during a pretrial conference last week. Johnatakis repeatedly expressed his desire to accept “full liability” for the charges but refused to plead guilty. Lamberth told Johnatakis that he could have received a lesser sentence if he hadn’t been so stubborn.
During the trial, Johnatakis did not call any witnesses or present a defense. He claimed to have repented for his actions and asked Lamberth to “discharge” the matter, using a common phrase among sovereign citizens, as he believed there was no controversy before the court.
Johnatakis also questioned an FBI agent, Michael Kiley, about accepting his apology for his actions. However, Kiley stated that it was not his place to accept the apology.
Over 1,200 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, with more than 400 already sentenced to incarceration. Additionally, online “Sedition Hunters” claim to have identified around 1,000 more rioters who have not yet been arrested.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.
