Missouri man among first to breach U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 pleads guilty to misdemeanor

An eastern Missouri man who breached the Capitol in the early minutes of the Jan. 6 insurrection pleaded guilty Thursday to a single misdemeanor count.

Joshua Dressel, 32, of Jefferson County, entered a guilty plea to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. His hearing was held via video conference in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper set Dressel’s sentencing for Nov. 22.

He faces a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Dressel is the 15th of 23 Missouri residents charged in connection with the Capitol riot to plead guilty. Of those,10 have been sentenced — seven received probation and three were ordered to serve jail time of 30 to 45 days.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Moeder said Dressel traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote. On the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, he said, Dressel and others gathered on the west side of the Capitol.

“At 2:13 in the afternoon, rioters breached the Senate wing doors, which is on the west side of the Capitol, and then two minutes after that initial breach, Mr. Dressel entered into the doorway of that area,” Moeder said. “He then walked around for about 20 minutes in a variety of different areas within the Capitol, and then he ultimately exited through a broken door about 20 minutes after his initial entry into it.”

Dressel confirmed to Cooper that he signed the statement of offense outlining his actions on Jan 6. Cooper asked Dressel if there was anything about the plea agreement that he didn’t understand.

“Absolutely understand,” Dressel said.

“And what is your plea?” Cooper asked after a series of other questions.

“Guilty,” Dressel replied.

The FBI learned of Dressel’s involvement in the breach from a longtime acquaintance who saw him on a video of rioters inside the Capitol that was broadcast on MSNBC, according to the charging document. The tipster also told the FBI of seeing a livestream video from Dressel’s Facebook page that appeared to be taken inside the Capitol and showed a large group chanting, “Stop the Steal.”

Using Dressel’s cellphone number that was provided by the tipster, the FBI tracked down Dressel’s Facebook account. The records indicated that someone had logged into his account the night of Jan. 6 from an area in Virginia that was about 11 miles from the Capitol.

Additional records obtained through a search warrant showed that Dressel had told someone on Facebook Messenger about being in the Capitol that day.

In one message, posted at 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 6, Dressel said, “First 20 or so to break into the Capitol.”

The recipient responded, telling Dressel that “You guys are true patriots!!!!” and that they “should be“ (expletive deleted) proud of yourselves.”

The two then discussed a video Dressel had posted on Facebook that showed him in the Capitol, the document said.

“Just went to show the wife the video of you guys in the capitol,” the person wrote. “I see ya deleted it. Smart move lol.”

Dressel responded: “Lol I’m proud to say I was a voice of reason in there trying to stop the crazy (expletive deleted) and calm things down.”

“‘Im sure ya were,” the person responded to Dressel. “I was going to tell you ya should delete it. Don’t give them any more notice to come and find you once they look at the cctv tapes inside the capitol…”

Dressel did not respond to the comment about deleting the video, the charging document said, and the records of his account that the FBI received from Facebook did not include the video.

Dressel was arrested in July 2021 and charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building and grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. All of the charges were misdemeanors.

The government agreed to drop the other three charges in exchange for his guilty plea to the parading count.