A January 6 rioter from New York and one-time candidate for George Santos’ former House seat is going to prison.
On Friday, Philip Sean Grillo, 49, was sentenced to one year in prison, according to online court records.
On December 5, 2023, he was found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding, trespassing, and picketing in the Capitol building.
Grillo was cleared of an obstruction charge following a recent Supreme Court decision that limited the government’s use of a federal obstruction law.
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Grillo spouted off in court, saying, “Trump’s gonna pardon me,” as U.S. Marshals took him into custody, according to Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News.
In a lengthy court filing for the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, wrote about how close the country came to losing its democracy and slammed the many insurgents who claimed to be political prisoners.
“On January 6, 2021, an angry mob of rioters invaded and occupied the United States Capitol, intending to interrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results and thwart the peaceful transfer of power that is the centerpiece of our Constitution and the cornerstone of our republican legacy,” the court’s ruling states.
The judge described the mob as avoiding obstacles, ignoring signs and barricades, engaging in pitched combat with officers, hitting them with fists, poles, crutches, stolen batons, and riot shields, and stampeding through and over them.
Lamberth chastised the rioters, including Grillo, for attempting to downplay their actions afterward. He wrote about the toll the cases had on the country, mentioning that there were over 100 trials, nearly all of which resulted in guilty verdicts.
“They have claimed that the Capitol Riots were a peaceful protest or, at worst, a mere trespass, implying or saying outright that the rioters are ‘political prisoner[s]’ being punished for protected First Amendment activity,” the ruling stated.
“Let me be clear: trial by jury is one of the most sacred rights guaranteed by our Constitution. However, this does not imply that every case should be tried, especially if the evidence of guilt is overwhelming, as it was in the majority of the Capitol Riot cases.
It is deeply disappointing that so many jurors had to be dragged away from their daily lives to hear from rioters who would rather spout mostly false defenses than accept responsibility for their actions.”
Grillo entered the Capitol building at 2:20 p.m. using a broken window near the Senate Wing door and carrying a megaphone, according to court documents.
A person interviewed him on video while he was inside.
“Look at me, and tell me what you’re here for,” the person asked Grillo.
“I’m here to stop the theft. “This is our f—ing house!” Grillo responded before continuing into the Capitol.
Later, he was part of a mob that pushed through police lines and opened the exterior doors, allowing rioters to enter.
“We f—did it!” We made it to the Capitol building. We f— did it! We f— did it, baby! We f—did it, you understand? We stormed the Capitol. We closed it down! We did it! “We shut the mother…!” Grillo confessed in a selfie video commemorating his crime.
Grillo entered and exited the Capitol three more times. The video shows him pushing up against police officers.
In one video, he can be heard asking, “Who’s smoking grass?” Finally, “Can I get a hit it of that s—?”
In another video, he is seen high-fiving fellow rioters after smoking marijuana in the Capitol.
On February 23, 2021, FBI agents arrested Grillo in New York.
At his trial, he claimed he had “no idea” Congress met inside the Capitol building, but he also stated that he was running for election to the United States House to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District, the seat previously held by Santos.
