‘Fresh patriots to the front.’ NC man pleads guilty to felony Capitol riot charge

Lewis Cantwell finally said he did it.

After two hearings in which he was scheduled to plead guilty to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot but never got around to doing so, the former tea shop owner from Western North Carolina made it official at 4:08 p.m. Thursday.

“I am pleading guilty because I am in fact guilty,” Cantwell told U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington, during what turned out to be the only routine plea hearing in Cantwell’s eventful case.

His crime — a felony charge of obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during the commission of civil disorder — carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Sullivan said Thursday that under his plea agreement, Cantwell faces a preliminary sentencing range of zero to six months — a lesser punishment than most Jan. 6-related felony cases have received up to now, though the judge will have the final say. Cantwell also will pay $2,000 in restitution. His sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 22.

The Waynesville resident is among at least 20 N.C. residents who have been charged in connection with the attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters to block congressional certification of the now-former president’s 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden. Cantwell becomes the first from the state to plead guilty to a felony — one of fewer than three dozen defendants overall in the massive prosecution to do so.

In all, close to 800 residents from almost every state have been arrested in connection with the riot, in which seven people died, some 140 police officers were injured and more than $1 million in damage was unleashed on the Capitol.

Capitol rioters on video

Cantwell, who was arrested in Asheville on Feb. 18, 2021, was never accused of taking part in the mob violence himself. Instead, court documents describe him as a combination videographer and cheerleader.

His prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Schesnol, told Sullivan that Cantwell used his cellphone to video-record other rioters battling police outside one entrance to the Capitol.

On one of the recordings Cantwell can be heard yelling for mob members “to get the door open.” On another, he shouts, “Fresh patriots to the front,” Schesnol said.

But getting Cantwell to admit to this role has proven elusive.

Plea hearings delayed

Cantwell’s December plea hearing was canceled after he suddenly changed attorneys.

On March 15, the 36-year-old military veteran actually signed the plea deal. But then he stunned Sullivan by claiming that prosecutors had taken his actions and words out of context.

Yes, he had called on people to force open the Capitol door; yes, he called for “fresh patriots” to come to the front.

But he said he did so only because some demonstrators has been trapped by the door and might be injured.

“I was never involved in any violence,” Cantwell said.

Sullivan, a Clinton appointee, pointed out that Cantwell had just signed his name to a far different version of events.

“I’ll tear this document up if it’s not true,” he said. “I’m not trying to trick you. It’s about you pleading guilty. You could be in jail for five years. It you didn’t commit this offense, you should go to trial.”

Sullivan then canceled the hearing. “Talk to your lawyer,” he told Cantwell. “This is not a game of ‘gotcha now.’”

Cantwell had one last question: “Is the plea agreement still open?”

Turns out it was.

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 6:10 AM with the headline "‘Fresh patriots to the front.’ NC man pleads guilty to felony Capitol riot charge."

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.