Couy Griffin barred from public office for 'insurrectionary conduct'

Fresno CA

Description

A New Mexico judge barred “Cowboys for Trump” founder Couy Griffin from holding public office Tuesday, ruling that Griffin’s participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause. In a judgment issued Tuesday morning, New Mexico District Court Judge Francis J. Matthew ruled Griffin was “permanently enjoined and prohibited from seeking or holding any federal or state position” as defined by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That includes his current position as a commissioner in Otero County, New Mexico, the judge wrote. Griffin was convicted in a March bench trial by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden of one misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted grounds for climbing onto the inaugural stage on Jan. 6. McFadden acquitted Griffin of a second misdemeanor count of disorderly and disruptive conduct, finding, in part, that a prayer Griffin had led on Jan. 6 had a calming effect on at least some of the people around him. At trial, prosecutors focused on other statements Griffin had made, including a Facebook post stating there might be “blood running out” of the U.S. Capitol Building during further protests and that, “There will never be a Biden presidency.” Griffin also said during a meeting of the Otero County Board of Commissioners, of which he was a member, that he planned to return to D.C. for the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, and that he would “embrace my Second Amendment.”