A San Diego jury has convicted the half-brother of a Donald Trump supporter, who was killed by police while trying to reach members of Congress during the January 6 attack on the Capitol, of a hate crime for assaulting and shouting racial slurs at a utility worker last year.
According to the San Diego, California City Attorney’s office, Roger Stefan Witthoeft Jr was found guilty on charges of misdemeanor battery with a hate crime allegation, as well as a charge of violating the Latino utility worker’s civil rights.
Witthoeft had assaulted the utility worker, who was diverting traffic near a utility work site at a San Diego intersection, while shouting at him to speak English and hurling other abuse at him.
City Attorney Mara Elliott said the verdict “sent a clear message that violent, abusive, and racist conduct like this has no place in our community”.
Witthoeft gained a measure of celebrity in right-wing circles last year after a round of right-wing media interviews to accuse US Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd of shooting his half-sister, Ashli Babbitt, without cause.
Video footage shot during the January 6 attack showed Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, attempting to climb through barricaded doors to the House of Representatives Speaker’s Lobby, an area adjoining the rear of the House chamber, while police were ushering House members to safety.
Mr Byrd, a veteran of the Capitol Police department’s Dignitary Protection Division, discharged his service weapon at Babbitt after she ignored shouted warnings from officers and began to climb through a broken window just yards from where several House members stood.
In an interview with NBC News, Mr Byrd said he knew his actions “saved countless lives” because the House members, as well as his fellow USCP officers and congressional staff, “were in jeopardy and in serious danger”.
“If they get through that door, they’re into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress,” said, adding that Babbitt had been “posing a threat to the United States House of Representatives”.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Witthoeft had attempted to head off being prosecuted by blaming his actions on the “extreme stress and trauma” of his half-sister’s death.
