Charleston man pleads guilty to charge in Jan. 6 Capitol riot case

A 47-year old Charleston area man pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Chadwick “Chad” Clifton, a construction worker, will be sentenced on Jan. 13, said U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who accepted Clifton’s guilty plea toward the end of a 40-minute hearing in a Washington courtroom.

Specifically, the charge to which Clifton pleaded guilty was “parading, demonstrating or picketing” in a Capitol building while knowing he did not have permission to be inside.

He could receive a maximum of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine, as well as having to pay $500 restitution. In return, the government dropped three other charges against him.

Anonymous tipsters from the Charleston area turned Clifton in to the FBI after they saw his statements on Facebook and video app TikTok about being part of the riot, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

One tipster told the FBI he worked with Clifton at Clifton’s former place of employment, a Mount Pleasant property maintenance company, and described how Clifton had shared videos and photos of being inside the Capitol. One photo showed Clifton wearing a red “Trump2020 — Keep America Great” baseball hat, according to the complaint.

During Thursday’s hearing, a subdued Clifton responded to Howell with brief, “Yes, your honor” and “No, your honor” responses to her questions. It concluded with the judge asking how Clifton planned to plead.

“Guilty your honor,” Clifton said.

Clifton’s demeanor was in contrast to the exuberance with which he livestreamed and posted exuberant statements on Facebook and social media to his friends while walking to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House hosted by former President Donald Trump.

At the rally, Trump falsely told rallygoers that the November 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him by Democrats, and he urged supporters to march on the Capitol to stop Congress that afternoon from certifying the Electoral College vote.

On Thursday, the judge read to Clifton statements he had made on social media, statements such as, “Look at where we are, look at where we are going. ... Exciting times are coming.” Another one said, “Storming the Capitol building ... first hand, I was there.” A third said, “We are in a war and 95% of the people don’t even know it.”

Clifton admitted he had made all those statements.

Clifton was arrested in May along with Charleston lawyer David Johnston. Both traveled together to Washington to attend Trump’s Jan. 6 rally and then walked to the Capitol.

Johnston has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 16.

Johnston and Clifton were both terminated at their places of employment after their arrests were made public.

The pair are neighbors in a residential community in Summerville, a town northwest of Charleston in Dorchester County.

Other evidence against Clifton included his message to a fellow Facebook user, in which he said, “When I went to DC that was an experience of a lifetime. .... I was a patriot and I made sure that people didn’t destroy things and picked up trash and we (were) respectful. The medium (sic) made it look like we were a bunch of demons destroying things in which we were not in any way.”

Clifton was represented Thursday by Nathan Williams, a former assistant U.S. attorney. The prosecutor was Ashley Akers.

Nineteen people from South Carolina have so far been arrested in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases. Ten, including Clifton, have so far pleaded guilty.

More than 880 people from around the country have been charged in the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol. Approximately 412 have pleaded guilty to various charges. Sentences have ranged from probation to 86 months in prison.

The FBI continues to seek more than 360 people believed to have committed violent acts on the Capitol grounds that day, including more than 264 who assaulted police officers. It is the largest U.S. Department of Justice investigation ever, according to the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s office, which is handling all prosecutions in the case.

This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 12:00 PM.