Judge calls Jan. 6 an 'insurrection,' bars 'Cowboys for Trump' founder from office

A justice successful New Mexico declared Tuesday that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was an "insurrection" arsenic helium ruled that Otero County Commissioner and "Cowboys for Trump" laminitis Couy Griffin indispensable beryllium removed from bureau for participating successful the attack.

Griffin is barred for beingness from holding immoderate national oregon authorities bureau — including his existent relation arsenic region commissioner, from which helium volition beryllium ousted "effective immediately," Judge Francis Mathew ruled.

Griffin became "constitutionally disqualified" from those positions arsenic of Jan. 6, 2021, the justice concluded.

On that day, a convulsive mob of erstwhile President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing lawmakers to fly their chambers and disrupting the transportation of powerfulness to President Joe Biden. Griffin was convicted successful March connected a misdemeanor complaint of breaching restricted Capitol grounds.

The riot and the readying and incitement that led up to it "constituted an 'insurrection'" nether the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, Mathew wrote successful the ruling successful New Mexico's 1st Judicial District Court.

The ruling marked the archetypal clip that immoderate tribunal recovered that the Capitol riot met the explanation of an insurrection, according to the nonprofit authorities watchdog radical CREW, which represented the plaintiffs who filed the suit to disqualify Griffin.

"This determination makes wide that immoderate existent oregon erstwhile nationalist officials who took an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and past participated successful the January 6th insurrection tin and volition beryllium removed and barred from authorities work for their actions," CREW President Noah Bookbinder said successful a property release.

Griffin told CNN aboriginal Tuesday that helium had been ordered to cleanable retired his desk.

"I'm shocked, conscionable shocked," Griffin told CNN. "I truly did not consciousness similar the authorities was going to determination connected maine successful specified a way. I don't cognize wherever I spell from here."

Mathew's ruling besides marks the archetypal clip since 1869 that a tribunal has disqualified a nationalist authoritative nether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, according to CREW.

That section, known arsenic the Disqualification Clause, bars immoderate idiosyncratic from holding civilian oregon subject bureau astatine the national oregon authorities level of the United States if they "have engaged successful insurrection oregon rebellion against the same, oregon fixed assistance oregon comfortableness to the enemies thereof."

Griffin did not participate the Capitol gathering itself oregon perpetrate unit during the Jan. 6 riot, but helium nevertheless engaged successful it and his actions "aided the insurrection," Mathew ruled.

"By joining the mob and trespassing connected restricted Capitol grounds, Mr. Griffin contributed to delaying Congress' election-certification proceedings," the justice wrote. Griffin's beingness "contributed to instrumentality enforcement being overwhelmed," and helium besides "incited, encouraged, and helped normalize the violence" during the riot, Mathew ruled.

In addition, the justice dismissed arsenic "meritless" the arguments enactment guardant by Griffin, who represented himself successful the case.

Griffin's attempts to "sanitize his actions are without merit and contrary to the grounds produced by the Plaintiffs, bearing successful caput that helium produced nary grounds himself successful his ain defense," Mathew wrote.

His arguments successful tribunal were "not credible and amounted to thing much than attempting to enactment lipstick connected a pig," the justice added.

Griffin was arrested little than 2 weeks aft the Capitol riot. He was convicted successful March and sentenced connected June 17 to 2 weeks' clip served successful jail, on with a $3,000 good and assemblage service.

Griffin, a Republican and a vocal protagonist of Trump, has echoed the erstwhile president's mendacious claims that the 2020 predetermination results were compromised by wide fraud.

He and the 2 different GOP members who marque up the Otero County Commission refused to certify its astir caller superior predetermination results, reportedly citing conspiracy theories astir Dominion voting machines. The committee yet voted 2 to 1 to certify the superior results, with Griffin voting "no."

In 2019, Griffin created Cowboys for Trump, a radical that enactment connected pro-Trump horseback-riding parades.

Bookbinder called Tuesday's ruling "a historical triumph for accountability for the January 6th insurrection and the efforts to disrupt the peaceful transportation of powerfulness successful the United States."

"Protecting American ideology means ensuring those who interruption their oaths to the Constitution are held responsible," helium said.