Ex-Sheriff’s Deputy Ronald McAbee mulls plea deal ahead of Jan. 6 trial.
Former Tennessee Sheriff’s Deputy Considers Plea Agreement in Capitol Riot Case
Former Tennessee sheriff’s deputy Ronald Colton McAbee, who was labeled a “terrorist” by a U.S. District judge in 2021 for his involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, is now contemplating a plea agreement that could potentially prevent his upcoming trial in October.
McAbee, 29, from Unionville, Tennessee, was originally scheduled to stand trial on October 2 for charges related to the events of January 6. These charges include assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer; civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly weapon; and committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
A motion filed with U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on September 6 by federal prosecutors indicated that the scheduled pretrial hearing on September 13 would now be converted into a change-of-plea hearing.
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According to Mr. McAbee’s wife, Sarah, the final details of the plea agreement are still being worked out. She confirmed that the September 13 hearing is still listed as a pretrial conference.
Mr. McAbee was arrested in Nashville on August 17, 2021. Although United States Magistrate Judge Jeffery Frensley in the Middle District of Tennessee initially ordered his release pending trial, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an emergency motion to overturn the order. This motion was granted by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.
During a detention hearing on September 22, 2021, in Washington, Judge Sullivan referred to Mr. McAbee and other protesters as “terrorists.” The judge specifically mentioned a video that appeared to show Mr. McAbee pulling a police officer into the crowd, stating, “So it appears clearly to this court that the defendant is pulling the officer back into the crowd of other terrorists.”
Prosecutors argued that Mr. McAbee had assaulted Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wyatt. They claimed that, despite having a broken shoulder from a car accident nine days prior, Mr. McAbee pulled the officer down the concrete stairs into a hostile crowd after he fell at the tunnel entrance.
At the initial hearings, the bodycam video presented as evidence did not include audio. However, on the audio, Mr. McAbee can be heard identifying himself as a law enforcement officer and offering to help Officer Wyatt. This contradicts the allegations made against him.
Despite this evidence, Judge Sullivan refused to reconsider his decision to keep Mr. McAbee in jail until his trial. Eventually, Judge Sullivan was removed from the case, and it was reassigned to Judge Contreras.
In September 2022, Mr. McAbee was maced and knocked to the ground by jail staff at the District of Columbia jail for not wearing a face mask while walking to obtain his medication. Mrs. McAbee is now considering taking legal action against the jail for the attack.
Mr. McAbee was one of the bystanders who provided medical aid to Ms. Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia, after she collapsed at the entrance of the terrace tunnel during the protest. Unfortunately, Ms. Boyland later passed away at a Washington hospital.
Mr. McAbee wrote an emotional letter to Ms. Boyland’s parents, expressing his deep sorrow for their loss.
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