Charleston man gets 21 days in jail, probation for role in Jan. 6 US Capitol riot

A federal judge sentenced a Charleston County man Friday to serve 21 days in jail for his involvement in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.

Chadwick Clifton, 48, must also serve 90 days home detention, three years’ probation and pay $1,000 in fines, Judge Beryl Howell decided.

Clifton, who runs a Charleston-area construction company, will serve his jail sentenced in two stretches — one of 14 days and one of seven days, said his attorney Nathan Williams, of Charleston.

Clifton was charged with misdemeanor of “parading, demonstrating or picketing” in the Capitol, after he joined the rioters knowing he did not have permission to be inside the federal building where Congress was set to certify the 2020 election results, charges said.

Clifton had no criminal history, was supporting his family and is engaged his children’s lives, Williams said in a memo to the judge. He could have received a maximum of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Williams said Clifton had taken “accountability for his actions early,” and ”has been cooperative and he demonstrated proper remorse.”

Prosecutors had asked for 21 days in jail and three years’ probation.

“Such a sentence protects the community, promotes respect for the law, and deters future crime by imposing restrictions on his liberty as a consequence of his behavior, while recognizing his acceptance of responsibility for his crime,” the prosecution said.

On Friday, the judge asked Clifton, who wore a red “Trump 2020 — Keep America Great” baseball hat during the riot, whether he still believed the 2020 election was stolen.

Saying he had time to reflect, Clifton said, according to Williams, that “that type of political discourse didn’t interest him any more and he was focusing on his family.”

SC man traveled to DC on Jan. 6 with friend

In court documents, the prosecution underscored the seriousness of the Jan. 6 attack, saying it had, in part, halted Congress’ work, threatened the nation’s peaceful transfer of power and resulted in injuries of more than 100 police officers.

Although Clifton did not hit or threaten law officers during the attack, prosecutors said he was at the front of the mob that broke into the Capitol, boasted on social media about the event, puffed on a marijuana cigarette inside the Capitol and witnessed numerous incidents of violence between rioters and police.

Clifton also bragged about his large collection of guns and “promised death” to anyone who came between him and former President Donald Trump, prosecutors said in court document.

Clifton traveled to Washington that day with David Johnston, a Charleston-area lawyer and fervent Trump supporter. Johnston has since pleaded guilty to the same offense, and last month received a similar sentence to Clifton’s. Unlike Clifton, Judge Howell, who said Johnston had an obligation as a lawyer to live by the rule of law, gave Johnston a stiffer fine — $2,500.

Johnston was fired from the George Sink law firm after his arrest, and his law license was suspended.

Johnston and Clifton are among 19 South Carolinians who have so been charged in the riot.

Eleven of those have pleaded guilty.

Ten, including Clifton, have been sentenced to terms ranging from nearly four years in prison to probation.

In total, the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation has charged more than 950 people. More than 480 have pleaded guilty.