Forsyth man watched attacks, swung baton at cops during Capitol riot. Now he’s convicted

A Middle Georgia man has been convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Wednesday.

Michael Bradley of Forsyth was convicted of multiple offenses relating to the riot that disrupted Congress while it was trying to certify the result of the 2020 presidential election. The Capitol breach has resulted in charges against nearly 1,500 people, according to the DOJ. More than 500 of them have been charged with assault officers.

Prosecutors said Bradley’s charges included civil disorder, assaulting law enforcement and entering and behaving disorderly in a restricted building with a weapon. He was also convicted of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building with a weapon.

Bradley, through his attorney Paul Enzinna, declined to have a trial by jury and instead only wanted Judge Reggie B. Walton to hear the case, according to court documents.

Evidence presented during his trial showed Bradley with a baton in a holster on his right hip, making his way toward the Capitol between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. He was heading toward the lower west terrace tunnel, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office said “was the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement that day.”

He initially watched rioters smash windows and pull law enforcement into the crowd before approaching officers in the tunnel, according to the evidence presented at his trial. At 4:27 p.m., he raised his baton toward the officers but was sprayed with a chemical agent. He retreated temporarily.

Bradley returned a minute later, swinging his baton at least two times toward officers before leaving the lower west terrace, they said. He was arrested by the FBI in Forsyth on Sept. 7, 2023.

He will be sentenced on Dec. 17.

According to the attorney’s office, the investigation remains ongoing. They said that, since Jan. 6, 2021, “more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 550 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.”

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