‘I just wanna die’: NC man battling COVID as sentencing looms for his role in Capitol riot

Federal prosecutors want a North Carolina man to serve a month in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot.

First, James “Les” Little has to kick COVID-19.

The former truck driver from Claremont began showing flu-like symptoms on Jan. 28, and tested positive for the virus shortly afterward, according to a court filing Friday from his federal public defender, Peter Adolf of Charlotte. Claremont is about 45 miles northwest of Charlotte, in Catawba County.

Little, who public records show to be in his early 50s, last received medical treatment on Thursday, his attorney wrote.

He’s shared details of his health struggles on social media since late last month.

“Oh my god, y’all. I’ve never felt so bad in my life. I’m burning up,” Little said in a YouTube video he posted Thursday.

Little’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday, but Adolf said Little’s illness blocks his client’s ability “to meaningfully participate” in his own defense and has asked for a delay.

Monday afternoon, he got one. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth moved the hearing to March 14.

Adolf did not respond to an Observer email sent Sunday seeking comment.

Little was arrested in March on four misdemeanor charges tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by hundreds of Donald Trump supporters bent on stopping Congress from certifying the former president’s defeat to Joe Biden.

As part of a deal with prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, Little pleaded guilty in November to one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

‘We just took over the Capitol’

Little, one of at least 17 North Carolina defendants charged in the case, is best known for having taken part in a raging text fight with a family member from inside the Capitol over the merits of what he had done and whether the election had been stolen, as Trump baselessly claimed.

“We just took over the Capitol,” Little wrote, according to court filings.

“And you are bragging?” the relative fired back. ‘’We”? THIS IS TREASON!!! IF YOU DON’T CONDEMN THIS, NEVER BOTHER SPEAKING TO ME AGAIN! HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PEOPLE. IT’S A COUP! YOU OBVIOUSLY HATE AMERICA!!!”

“We are stopping treason,” Little responded. “Stealing elections is treason! We’re not going to take it anymore!

“... You’ll thank me for saving your freedom ...”

Instead of thanking Little, the family member turned him in to the FBI.

In a new court filing on Friday, Little’s prosecutors acknowledge that he was never violent inside the Capitol nor did he destroy any property.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael James, on loan from the federal prosecutor’s office in Raleigh, said Little’s illegal entry into the government building gave voice and strength to a destructive mob that overwhelmed police and left more than $1 million in damages. Five deaths are linked to the violence; some 140 police officers were injured.

“As this Court knows, a riot cannot occur without rioters,” James wrote in his sentencing recommendation to Lamberth, “and each rioters’ actions — from the most mundane to the most violent — contributed directly and indirectly to the violence and destruction of that day.

“... No rioter was a mere tourist that day. And Little is no exception.”

Prosecutor: Little threatened civil war

According to the government filing, Little reacted to Trump’s electoral loss with anger and threats of violence.

In November 2020, following Trump’s defeat, Little uploaded a now deletedvideo to his YouTube channel in which he threatened civil war against Democrats unless the Supreme Court overturned Biden’s victory.

Trump’s backers, according to Little, “owned lots of guns and God forbid we’d ever have to use it on you,” he said, according to James’s filing.

On Jan. 6, Little and an unidentified female companion attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally before following the defeated then-president’s call to march on the Capitol.

Along the way, Little called his mother. He learned that at that moment she was being treated for a medical emergency. Little, according to James, is his mother’s primary caretaker. Instead of leaving the march and returning home, Little kept walking, James wrote.

Inside the Capitol, Little took photographs and fist-bumped with other rioters. After leaving, he prayed on the steps with Trump supporters then joined in a group rendition of “We’re Not Going to Take It” by Twisted Sister, James wrote.

Interviewed by the FBI in North Carolina a week later, Little showed little remorse. He said Trump’s supporters had been led into the Capitol by undercover operatives from the Antifa and the Black Lives Matter movements, conspiracy theories that were quickly debunked by even members of the Trump administration.

Little also blamed police of antagonizing the mob by using tear gas and rubber bullets against the rioters, James wrote.

Little’s crime carries a maximum sentence of six month in prison. James recommended a month’s confinement followed by three years of probation, 60 hours of community service and $500 in restitution.

Dealing with COVID

The so-called “split sentence” that includes both jail time and probation was handed down earlier against Virginia “Jenny” Spencer of Pilot Mountain. The mother of five pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge as Little and was initially sentenced to three months in prison and 36 months of probation.

The probationary period was later lopped off by the judge after Spencer’s attorney argued that the law did not allow the court to hand down both an active prison sentence and probation for a petty offense.

Whether Little raises a similar argument — and when he will get the chance — remains to be seen.

For now, Little continues to make his battle with COVID-19 a public one, with a series of videos on his YouTube channel.

Last Thursday, he posted a 40-second clip with the title, “God Help me Jesus! Wuhan-19 Day VI.”

“I just wanna die. Just pray for me,” Little says looking into the camera.

The clip ends with Little emitting a loud, racking cough.

This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 2:12 PM with the headline "‘I just wanna die’: NC man battling COVID as sentencing looms for his role in Capitol riot."

Michael Gordon

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5095

Michael Gordon has been the Observer’s legal affairs writer since 2013. He has been an editor and reporter at the paper since 1992, occasionally writing about schools, religion, politics and sports. He spent two summers as “Bikin Mike,” filing stories as he pedaled across the Carolinas.