SC man who texted wife ‘wild tear gas’ during Jan. 6 Capitol riot pleads guilty
A Fort Mill-area man pleaded guilty Monday to charges connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, joining five other South Carolinians who so far have entered guilty pleas for their involvement that day.
Paul Colbath, 65, one of 11 people from South Carolina arrested following the riot, appeared by video before U.S. Judge Randolph Moss in Washington. Colbath pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a charge which carries a six-month maximum sentence.
“I wish to plead guilty,” Colbath told the judge, repeating again, “I plead guilty.”
Moss, who will sentence Colbath on April 6, said he doesn’t know how much time he will give him.
“The one limitation I have is that I cannot impose greater than six months,” Moss said.
Colbath was allowed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge because the government had no evidence he assaulted an officer or committed vandalism while in the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Prout said the government would be able to prove Colbath traveled from South Carolina to Washington to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, and, after attending the rally, he made his way to the Capitol.
Prout said Colbath entered the Capitol after hearing glass break, seeing rioters climb the scaffolding outside the building and hearing the crowd yell, “Go.” Prout also said that before Colbath entered the Capitol he texted “wild tear gas at the Capitol” to his wife and took video of the crowd entering the building.
Entering the building through a fire door, Colbath helped a rioter whose eyes were stinging from tear gas, heard the crowd chant, “this is our house” and saw signs of vandalism, Prout said. He then exited the Capitol and, 30 seconds later, came back in again and spent another five or six minutes inside, she said.
While Colbath was inside, U.S. House and Senate members had already evacuated their respective chambers, Prout said.
Before the riot, then-President Donald Trump held his “Stop the Steal” rally, falsely asserting the 2020 election was stolen. He urged people at his rally to march on the Capitol, saying, “If you don’t fight like hell, you aren’t going to have a country any more.”
The riot occurred as Congress was set to certify now President Joe Biden as the 2020 winner, a vote they held hours later.
“Proceedings were effectively suspended as a result of the riot taking place that day,” Prout told the judge Monday.
Colbath was originally charged with four misdemeanor counts: Disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia.
Colbath was arrested in October after a tipster contacted the FBI National Threat Operations Center to report that he “had been publicly bragging to friends and family” about participating in the riots at the Capitol.
Evidence against Colbath includes photos and videos of him inside and outside the Capitol.
His postal address is Fort Mill, but he lives in northern Lancaster County, just south of the North Carolina-South Carolina border in a section known locally as Indian Land, law enforcement officials confirmed.
Colbath’s attorney is Emily Harrill, an attorney with the South Carolina public defender’s office.
Since last Jan. 6, the Department of Justice has charged more than 725 people with criminal offenses connected to the storming of the Capitol, including more than 225 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 12:27 PM.
