Inset: Justin Lee. Background: A smoke bomb Lee threw at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (U.S. Justice Department).
A Maryland police officer convicted of throwing smoke bombs at cops guarding the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots is going to prison for a year and a half.
Justin Lee, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a Donald Trump appointee, to 18 months in prison, 12 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release. Lee was convicted by McFadden in a bench trial of assaulting officers, trespassing, and disorderly conduct.
The Washington Post reported McFadden called Lee’s acts “cowardly,” but noted a large mitigating factor in his sentence were his “heroic” actions on July 22, 2023, when, as a police officer, he shot and killed an armed 19-year-old stabbing suspect at a shopping center.
“You know better than most people how wrong assaults on police officers are,” said McFadden, who is also a former cop, the Post reported.
As Law&Crime reported in August, Lee claimed he was “just trying to make a statement” about police brutality after seeing officers use force against other rioters that day, an argument McFadden rejected.
“No police officer should have to endure these attacks and provocations,” said McFadden, The Associated Press reported.
Lee was part of the large crowd of Trump supporters at the Capitol that day, obstructing the certification of the Electoral College vote. He was seen in surveillance video wearing a gaiter-style Maryland flag face covering and a military-style medical bag with two side pouches.
Court documents said Lee ignited and threw a smoke bomb into the tunnel entrance on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, where a mob of rioters attacked a group of outnumbered police officers. The device struck a Metropolitan Police Officer’s shield and filled the area with smoke, court documents said.
Lee was hired as a Montgomery County Police Officer after participating in the insurrection but was suspended without pay after he was arrested in October 2023 for his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot.
His application for the job was submitted in July 2021, about six months after the events of Jan. 6, and hired into the department on Jan. 31, 2022, the agency said. While serving as a police officer, Lee was put on administrative leave for his involvement in the shooting death of a man armed with a knife. The Maryland Attorney General’s office did not pursue charges against Lee in the shooting.
While he was on administrative leave, the police agency learned Lee was the subject of an FBI investigation in July 2023.
“The Montgomery County Police Department conducts a thorough background investigation as part of its standard hiring process to ensure the suitability of candidates for employment,” the news release said. “Lee’s involvement in the January 6 insurrection was not discovered during this process, as he was not identified by the Justice Department in connection with the event.”
Citing police, The Washington Post reported he was fired last month.
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