An Upstate New York man pleaded guilty on May 21 to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges in connection to his actions during the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
According to a May 24 press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, 38-year-old Troy Weeks of Greenville, New York was among the group of rioters who attempted to overwhelm the officers blocking the entrance to the Lower West Terrace tunnel on January 6, 2021.
While inside the tunnel, Weeks reached through the broken glass of the first set of doors and grabbed a police officer’s pepper spray. The officer was able to hold onto the can as Weeks dragged his arm through the window and eventually wrestled it away from Weeks.
Weeks then made it through the first set of doors inside the tunnel. In an altercation with police, Weeks tried to push his way through the police shields, at one point grabbing onto an officer’s shield before getting pepper-sprayed and pushed back out of the tunnel.
Forty minutes later, Weeks joined with other rioters to try and push his way back into the tunnel.
He remained on the grounds of the Capitol and was later captured on police body-cam footage asking the officers why they weren’t trying to protect the ballots, according to court records.
Weeks pleaded guilty to felony civil disorder and felony assaulting or impeding a police officer. He also pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges, including entering a restricted area, disorderly and disruptive conduct, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted area.
Weeks was identified after Instagram pictures were matched to still images from the riot. The FBI later tracked down bank records belonging to Weeks and found connecting video footage of Weeks taking money out of the account at an ATM.
Weeks was arrested in January 2023 and charged with two other January 6 rioters — Casey Jane Tryon-Castro of Roanoke, VA, and Micaiah Joseph of Triangle, VA – who also attempted to breach the Lower West Entrance Tunnel.
According to the Justice Department, over 1,400 individuals have been charged for their involvement in the Capitol riot.
US District Judge Rudolph Contreras scheduled Weeks’ sentencing for November 1.
